US: California becomes 1st state to top 2M virus cases

California became the first US state that exceeded two million coronavirus cases mark on Thursday, according to a running tally of Johns Hopkins University.

The Maryland-based school registered a total of 2,010,485 confirmed cases and 23,660 deaths in the state.

The bulk of new cases came a day after California Governor Gavin Newsom said that the number of COVID-19 and Intensive Care Unit patients has doubled in 3 weeks, while hospitalizations are up 61%.

"Don't take your health for granted. Wear a mask. Stay home. Be safe," Newsom said on Twitter.

The Golden State is followed by Texas and Florida in infections as they have nearly 1.65 and 1.25 million cases, respectively.

Texas' fatality tally stands at 26,406, while Florida has recorded 20,874 deaths.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country by the pandemic with nearly 18.5 million coronavirus-related cases and more than 327,000 deaths. Nearly 44.5 million people have recovered from the disease so far.

The vaccination against the virus has begun in the country as two vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech received an emergency use authorization.