SACRAMENTO, Calif. California is reporting a one-day record of 764 COVID-19 deaths but the rate of new infections is falling.
The deaths reported Friday by the California Department of Public Health top the previous mark of 708 set on Jan. 8. In the last two days California has recorded 1,335 deaths.
Hospitalizations and newly confirmed cases have been falling, however, and health officials are growing more optimistic that the worst of the latest surge is over.
The 23,024 new cases reported Friday are less than half the mid-December peak of nearly 54,000. Hospitalizations have fallen below 20,000, a drop of more than 10% in two weeks.
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Bloomberg News, Bloomberg News Healthcare workers serve lunch to Covid-19 at a hospital in Karvina, Czech Republic on Jan. 11. , Getty Images via Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) The head of the World Health Organization criticized rich nations and drug companies for allowing younger, healthier adults to get vaccinated ahead of health workers and older people in poor countries. âThe world is on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure,â Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The European Unionâs executive arm will urge member states to set a target for vaccinating at least 70% of the blocâs population by this summer, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel and state leaders appear likely to extend lockdown measures.