Photo taken on Feb. 25, 2021 shows a U.S. flag flying at half-staff in front of the United States Court House Building in Los Angeles, California, the United States. The California authority reported Thursday that the United States' most populous state had 50,991 deaths from COVID-19, about one-tenth of the U.S. total from the pandemic. The U.S. COVID-19 deaths surpassed the grim milestone of 500,000 on Monday as key indicators of virus transmission in the country have continued to fall, while emerging variants are causing fresh concerns. U.S. President Joe Biden ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half-staff at all federal buildings and military posts in the United States and abroad. (Xinhua)

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25  -- The California authority reported Thursday that the United States' most populous state had 50,991 deaths from COVID-19, about one-tenth of the U.S. total from the pandemic.

The latest data released by the state government showed that 1,114 deaths were reported during the previous 24 hours. As of Thursday, a total of 3,460,326 infections were confirmed.

The grim figure in the state with 40 million residents came just days after the country recorded a half-million deaths. It took 10 months for the state to hit 25,000 deaths on New Year's Eve and less than two months for that number to double.

While California has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in the country, it is ranked 25th in the number of cases per capita because of its large population.

In Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the country, more than 800 victims were added to the list of those who had died of COVID-19 on Wednesday night, underscoring the massive toll of the fall and winter surge. The total number of fatalities just this week reached 20,000 in the county.