California reports record spike in daily Covid deaths

San Francisco, Jan 23: In yet another grim milestone, California, the most populous state in the US, has once again reported its highest spike in the number of single-day Covid-19 deaths.

In the past 24 hours, the state registered 764 new fatalities, which increased the overall death toll to 35,768, Xinhua news agency quoted the California Department of Public Health as saying in an update on Friday night.

Official statistics showed that the previous highest daily spike of 708 deaths was recorded two weeks ago.

In the same period, another 23,024 people tested positive for the virus, pushing the statewide infection tally up to 3,062,068.

California, home to around 40 million residents, became the first US state to register more than 3 million Covid-19 cases earlier this week.

A total of 18,985 Covid-19 patients are currently hospitalized in the state with 4,627 of them in intensive care, the Department said.

Public health officials also said that providers reported administering a total of 1,795,174 vaccine doses as of Thursday