California surpasses New York in COVID-19 cases

California on Wednesday surpassed New York in the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases, reaching 409,598, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

As of Wednesday, California now has about 700 more cases than New York.

However, with 32,526 confirmed deaths, New York still has the highest number of total deaths in the country and four times more than California's reported 7,890 fatalities.

New York's rate of confirmed infections of about 2,100 per 100,000 people is twice California's rate. With nearly 40 million people, California is the most populous US state. New York has about 19.5 million people.

California initially shut down all but essential businesses such as grocery stores in March, which slowed the spread of the virus. But as the state reopened much of its economy including bars and restaurants throughout May and June, infection rates rose sharply in recent weeks.

In fact, if California were a country, the state would have the fifth largest number of coronavirus cases in the world.

President Donald Trump has said this week that the pandemic in the US will probably get worse before it gets better.

This statement rings true in many states.

Florida reported 139 coronavirus associated deaths on Wednesday, the highest since July 16. The total number of COVID-19 cases stands at 379,619 and the state reports 5,345 deaths.

Texas registers more than 353,000 cases and 4,270 deaths.

New Jersey's death toll from the coronavirus increased to 15,707 on Wednesday, with 177,645 total cases in less than five months.

State officials announced 1,598 new COVID-19 cases in Illinois, the highest single-day increase reported in the month. There have been 166,475 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Illinois and 7,540 deaths.

Across the US more than 3.9 million people have been infected with COVID-19 and more than 142,000 people have died.