California Coronavirus Cases Surge To Over 600,000 And Could Be Even Higher

California has now become the first state to surpass 600,000 positive cases of the coronavirus, leading the hard-hit states of Florida and Texas in total confirmed coronavirus cases. Florida has over 557,000 positive coronavirus cases, and Texas has reported over 530,000 cases of the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

California reached the milestone Thursday with Los Angeles County, the largest county in the state, reporting 1,999 new positive coronavirus cases and 64 deaths, and San Diego County, the second-largest county in California, reported 266 new cases and seven deaths, data from NBC News indicated.

California comes in third for total COVID-19 deaths at nearly 11,000, following behind only New York and New Jersey. The U.S. has had over 167,000 COVID-19 deaths – a number the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said will reach 200,000 by Labor Day.

The U.S. has over 5 million positive coronavirus cases and reached its deadliest day of summer on Wednesday, reporting nearly 1,500 COVID-19 deaths, data from The Washington Post showed. The U.S has not reported that high of a daily death toll since mid-May, when the total number of COVID-19 deaths reached over 2,900, according to the World Health Organization.

California’s surging coronavirus cases could be even higher as reports suggest that a lack of widespread coronavirus testing in the state may not be providing accurate reporting on case count or death toll, NBC News reported.

Adding to the reporting deficiency was a computer glitch that occurred on July 25 that omitted a reported 300,000 files from the state database, which state officials have said has been rectified and caused an increase in reported virus cases this week due to the backlog.