California records highest single-day increase in coronavirus cases

Covid-19 cases are now increasing across multiple US states amid questions on whether testing or reopening is to blame

California has reported the largest one-day increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases since the pandemic started.

California’s Department of Public Health published data on Thursday showing 2,617 new cases in the previous 24 hours.

The state’s previous highest one-day count was 2,603 new Covid-19 cases on 5 May.

According to the health department’s data, the state has 101,697 confirmed Covid-19 cases in total, while the death toll reached 3,973 on Thursday.

California, Nevada and Utah are now among 17 US states with more Covid-19 cases than were reported last week.

Georgia governor Brian Kemp suggested on Thursday that the increasing coronavirus case count in his state, which passed 45,000 in total, was attributable to testing.

"We had a large dump of test results from a private sector vendor over the weekend,” said the governor. “They had a big backlog around 15,000 cases that tracked back to April."

California, meanwhile, is now among four US states with more than 100,000 coronavirus cases.

Some 369,000 Covid-19 tests were carried out in the state in the past week, accounting for 21 per cent of all California's tests to date.

Some health experts have suggested, however, that the state could have reopened too soon - despite being among the first to lock down in mid-March.

Holiday beachgoers pictured at Venice Beach on Memorial Day as coronavirus safety restrictions continue being relaxed across the state (Getty Images)

On Tuesday, Lassen County in Northern California announced that it was reversing its decision to reopen, having been among the first to do so at the start of May.

Santa Clara’s public health officer Dr Sara Cody also said this week that she was concerned that California’s reopening could see more cases.

“The pace at which the state has made these modifications is concerning to me,” said Dr Cody.

”[It is] risking “an exponential growth in cases, and therefore a risk to social and economic wellbeing,” she said.