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It was a regular Tuesday in spring, sunny and warm, and a little foggy at the coast. But as April 2, 2024 came to a close, a silent victory emerged: the day had passed without a single Californian dying from COVID. Over the next several weeks, as death certificates were filed and processed, it would become the first day without an official COVID death since March 18, 2020, the day before “That’s quite a notable day,” said Dr.

Monica Gandhi, a UCSF infectious disease expert whose passion for working with HIV patients brought her to the Bay Area at the height of the AIDS epidemic. It reminded her of another time, decades ago, when the Bay Area Reporter declared that there were “no obits,” to run for victims of HIV for the . “It was just such a beautiful significant day for us in history.



” Like an obituary section with no HIV deaths, a day with no COVID deaths is merely a symbolic moment in a pandemic’s roller coaster timeline, statistically likely to happen once the average daily deaths drop low enough, but noteworthy nonetheless. The deadly virus had already crept into the Golden State, when by late March 2020 it was responsible for deaths every single day. The highly contagious disease spread like wildfire through California’s most vulnerable populations — people who were immunocompromised, frail and elderly.

Hospitals filled up. Schools and offices closed. Masks became a necessary fashion accessory.

For 1,476 days the virus’ death count ticked steadily .

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