California virus deaths top 30,000 after deadliest weekend

LOS ANGELES (AP) — California's coronavirus catastrophe reached a staggering new level Monday as Johns Hopkins University data showed the nation’s most populous state has recorded more than 30,000 deaths since the pandemic started nearly a year ago.

Deaths have exploded since a COVID-19 surge began in October. It took California six months to record its first 10,000 deaths. But in barely a month, the total rose from 20,000 to 30,000.

Over the weekend, state officials reported a two-day record of 1,163 deaths. Hospitalizations also have exploded and many hospitals are stretched to the limit.

California ranks third nationally in coronavirus deaths, behind Texas and New York, which is in the No. 1 position with nearly 40,000.

Health officials have warned the worst is yet to come later this month, when there’s full picture on infections from the holidays.

In Los Angeles County, deaths have topped 12,000 and confirmed coronavirus cases have surpassed 900,000.

During the weekend, county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer characterized the spread of the virus as “immense” and said it reflected unsafe things people did during the holidays, making any activity outside a household much more risky.

“This is just not the time to go to the shopping mall or to a friend’s house to watch a basketball or football game,” Ferrer said.

Los Angeles County, meanwhile, announced it will stop using Curative COVID-19 tests at pop-up testing sites after a U.S. Food and Drug Administration alert to patients and health care providers that the test could produce false negatives.

The department said Curative PCR tests at the pop-up sites between Dec. 13 and Jan. 2 made up about 10% of all COVID-19 tests administered at county-supported test sites during that same time frame....