California and Florida, two of the most populous U.S. states, reported record increases in COVID-19 deaths on Friday, according to a Reuters tally.
Florida reported 257 deaths and California 208 fatalities. In numerical terms, the loss of life in each state is roughly equivalent to the number of passengers on a single-aisle airplane.
For Florida this is the fourth day in a row with a record rise in deaths and for California the second this week. Mississippi, Montana and Nevada also had a one-day record increase in deaths on Friday.
Overall in the United States, deaths have increased by over 25,000 in July to 153,000 total lives lost since the pandemic started.
California became the first U.S. state to have over half a million cases on Friday. Florida is in second place with over 470,000 infections.
California’s death toll rose to over 9,200, the third highest in the country behind New York and New Jersey. Florida ranks eighth with nearly 7,000 deaths.
California and Florida are among 19 states that saw cases more than double in July.
Florida had over 311,000 new cases in July, more than triple the 96,000 new cases it reported in June. The state also recorded over 3,400 deaths in July compared with about 1,000 the prior month.
Florida reported record one-day increases in cases three times during the month, with the highest on July 12, at 15,300 new cases in a single day.
California had over 260,000 new cases in July with a record one-day increase of 12,120 on July 22.
Nationally, deaths are rising at their fastest rate since early June and one person in the United States died about every minute from COVID-19 on Wednesday, the day with the largest increase in deaths so far this week.
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