California has officially put its deadliest month from COVID-19 behind it. Now, will it stay that way? September brings with it a fresh slate and a declining death curve, meaning that if the numbers continue trending in this direction, then yes, August will have been California’s deadliest month of the pandemic. The 80 new fatalities reported Monday, according to data compiled by this news organization , brought the monthly total to 3,796, 21% more than July, which set the previous record. But when the state set the previous monthly mark in July, the curve of deaths was still going up, and cases had not yet begun to decline, either. Now, it appears both metrics — as well as hospitalizations — are on the decline. The seven-day average for deaths fell Monday to about 108 per day, the first time the state has averaged fewer than 110 deaths per day from the virus since the week that ended July 26. About 25% fewer people died over the past seven days than at its peak, which came during the seven-day period that ended Aug. 6, when 1,016 Californians perished from the virus. Cases and hospitalizations have been slashed by even more. […]
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