Deadly weekend pushes California virus death toll past 30,000

California has surpassed 30,000 coronavirus deaths as of Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Deaths have risen sharply ever since a surge began in October, according to a report by KSWB-TV. The news station notes that it took around 6 months for the state to reach 10,000 deaths but it only took a month for the state’s death count to rise from 20,000 to 30,000.

California, the most populous state in the United States, is one of only three states that have surpassed 1 million coronavirus cases. Texas and Florida are the only other states that have reached this grim milestone. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) coronavirus data tracker, California has confirmed more than 2.6 million cases so far.

About 600,000 people have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine in the state, according to the CDC.

California broke its record for most single-day death reports on Saturday, recording 695 deaths. The latest outbreak has pushed California hospitals to their limits. On Tuesday, state health officials issued a new mandate requiring hospitals to accept patients from hospitals in crisis care.

The U.S. has recorded more than 22 million coronavirus cases and more than 371,000 deaths, per the CDC’s data tracker.

Nearly 7 million people have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.