California coronavirus cases and deaths are rising faster than researchers expected as state eases restrictions

While many praise California for avoiding the death toll of coronavirus hot spots like New York, some are worried that certain areas of the state haven't seen the decline in deaths needed to reopen the economy. According to the Los Angeles Times, coronavirus deaths in California have remained relatively flat in recent weeks, with some areas continuing to see rapid growth while some rural areas seeing less.

Either way, coronavirus cases and deaths in California are rising faster than researchers expected.

"Researchers are now predicting that California could see more than 6,000 COVID-19 deaths by the end of August, up about 1,420 from projections they released last Monday. It’s the fifth-largest increase in projected death tolls among U.S. states, after Pennsylvania, Illinois, Arizona and Florida," the LA Times reports. "The upward revisions 'are a result of a combination of updated daily death and case data, recent actions to ease previously implemented social distancing measures and steadily rising levels of mobility in many places,' the researchers said in notes released with the data."

Read more at The Los Angeles Times.