California reports over 8,000 new coronavirus cases Friday

KTVU - On the last day of July, California rounded out its worst month of the pandemic, in terms of new cases and deaths, with 8,086 new cases of COVID-19. The California Department of Public Health reported that the state now contains 493,588 positive cases and that there have been 9,005 deaths from the virus.

The department also confirmed Friday the COVID-related death of a teenager in the Central Valley—the first death in California of a teenager due to the virus. The person, whose identity is protected due to patient confidentiality, had underlying health conditions.

The age bracket with the most confirmed cases, 18 to 49, tallied 298,735 people according to the department.  

Officials said in a release that as case numbers rise in the state, so will instances of individuals facing serious health outcomes. Systemic health and social inequities, including discrimination and healthcare access, put people in racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of becoming ill and dying of COVID-19, according to the CDC.

"The differences in health outcomes related to COVID-19 are most stark in COVID-19 deaths," the CDPH said in a release. "We have nearly complete data on race and ethnicity for COVID-19 deaths, and we are seeing the following trends: Latinos, African Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders are dying at disproportionately higher levels."