California Surpasses 40,000 CCP Virus Deaths

Sharon Shafran (L) receives her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine from Nevada County Superintendent of Schools School Health Coordinator Sharyn Turner at Nevada Union High School, in Grass Valley, Calif., in an undated file photo. Elias Funez/The Union via AP

LOS ANGELES—California surpassed 40,000 coronavirus deaths as the state’s steepest surge of cases begins to taper.

The tally by Johns Hopkins University shows the state passed the milestone Saturday with 40,240 deaths. The deaths are surging at a record pace after recent declines in cases and hospitalizations. It took six months for California to record its first 10,000 deaths, then four months to double to 20,000.