California becomes first state to reach 3 million coronavirus cases

California on Monday became the first state to reach 3 million cumulative coronavirus infections as the pandemic continues to set records in the state and across the U.S.

The state has recorded 3,015,644 coronavirus infections as of Monday, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. The state has also totaled over 33,700 coronavirus fatalities. 

California hit the milestone less than a month after it it surpassed 2 million coronavirus infections on Dec. 24, and was the second state after Texas to reach 1 million coronavirus infections.

According to The Associated Press, California confirmed its very first COVID-19 case last year on Jan. 25.

The state has seen 500 new deaths and 40,000 new cases daily for the past two weeks, according to AP.

Projected ICU capacity is still below 15 percent in the Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley, and Southern California regions— all of which are still under regional stay-at-home orders.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County became the first county to record over 1 million coronavirus infections on Saturday, and confirmed the first case of the more contagious variant B117, which was first discovered in the U.K. 

On Sunday, California confirmed that another variant of COVID-19, L452R, which was first found in other countries, had been linked to multiple outbreaks in Santa Clara County.

All of this is happening as California races to vaccinate its population. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state has administered just over 1 million doses about of about 3.5 million distributed shots.