Coronavirus latest: Florida to crack down on ‘vaccine tourism’ – as it happened

Peter Wells in New York

California on Thursday reported fewer than 20,000 new coronavirus cases for the
first time in eight weeks, but any optimism was kept in check as the state’s death toll topped 35,000 following one of the biggest daily increases on record.

Warnings that some hard-hit areas, specifically Los Angeles county, are facing vaccine supply issues are also complicating the state’s outlook.

Counties reported a further 19,673 infections over the past 24 hours, the California’s health department revealed, down from 22,403 on Wednesday. This was the smallest number of new cases reported in a single day since December 3.

Over the past week, the Golden State has averaged 31,725 new cases a day, down from a peak pace of 43,948 a day about one month ago. While that decline is encouraging, other metrics and warnings from public health officials point…