Governor Newsom, health officials and Californians could feel relief as data released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the Golden State has the least number of COVID-19 cases in the continent. The latest seven-date rate of new cases stands at 40.3 for every 100,000 people. Only Hawaii has a slightly lower rate at 39.1 per 100,000 in the same period. California is way below the national rate of 135.3 per 100,000 people.

Other states are, however, not doing so well. Michigan is now at 483 per 100,000, which is rather high and is followed by four states that have many cases as well. New Jersey is at 269.7, Delaware is at 264.1, Pennsylvania has a rate of 248.5 and Minnesota was at 238.4 in the same week. Florida and Texas have lower rates with 201.1 and 65.9.

Officials say that California’s low numbers are a result of strong and longstanding efforts to vaccinate as many as possible in the shortest of times. The state has vaccinated 27 million doses to date. CDC data says that 44 percent of Californians have received at least one shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna vaccine or the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Last winter the state saw over 40,000 new cases each day, whereas the current rates are the lowest since spring 2020. The LA Times also reported that there is an average of 81 deaths per day. Although this is a sad figure it is much less than the almost 600 deaths that were reported at the height of the pandemic.

Another heartening feature is that no county in the state is in the purple tier which was the stricter tier. 38 out of 58 are now in the orange tier and three have reached the final frontier – the yellow tier.

As the economy is opening and restrictions are being relaxed it is important that Californians continue to “be mindful of safety practices” according to Dr. Henning Ansorg, a county health officer in Santa Barbara.