New York's 32,520 deaths are still by far the highest total in the country and four times more than California's tally, and its rate of confirmed infections of about 2,100 per 100,000 people is twice California's rate.

California's daily increases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic there.

Meanwhile, two World Health Organization experts went in China for a mission to trace the origin of the pandemic.