The number of new cases of the deadly coronavirus in California have not been as low as the number reported Saturday since September.
State officials on Saturday reported 3,993 new cases of the virus and 157 deaths, well below the average for the past week, bringing the total number of cases in California to 3,541,67 and total deaths to 51,979. With cases low, officials were also encouraged by the introduction of a new vaccine by Johnson and Johnson, which the FDA authorized Saturday.
The addition of a third vaccine in the U.S. means that more than 100 million people – nearly one-third of the U.S. population – could be vaccinated by the end of March.
Across the Bay Area, the average number of cases and deaths has also fallen. On Saturday, officials in the nine-county area reported 734 new cases, below the average of 814 for this week, bringing the total to 406,301 cases. Nine people were reported to have died from the virus, well below the average of 27, for a total of 5,354 deaths.
