There were 440 new COVID-19 cases announced for Monterey County, bringing the total up to 34,482 with no new hospitalizations and no new deaths. Nationwide, there were 301K new cases and over 4K deaths. This means that we set a new record for deaths from COVID-19 and the highest tallies for new infections and new deaths have all occurred in 2021. More than 131,300 people are now hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the COVID tracking project. In California, new cases totaled 40K for a cume total of 2.867 million, while deaths rose by more than 2% (+536) to 31,686. Please stay home as much as possible. Stay safe.