San Francisco, Feb 24 (IANS): California has hit a grim milestone as the most populous state in the US registered the most Covid-19 deaths across the country, according to data released by health authorities.

The Golden State, home to around 40 million residents, has registered a total of 100,187 Covid-19 deaths since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2020, Xinhua news agency reported citing the data from the Department of Public Health.

"This milestone is a tragic reminder of the very real toll the pandemic has taken on Californians," the Department said in a statement on Thursday.

"Our focus remains on the steps we can continue taking to limit further loss of life due to Covid-19," it added.

Even in a time of plentiful vaccines and therapeutics, when Covid-19 has been pushed to the back of many a mind, California is still tallying more than 20 deaths every day, on average, said the statement.

California reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country with over 11.1 million as of Thursday, according to the latest update of the Department.

The US still remains the worst-ht country in the world with the highest number of Covid-19 cases and deaths.

As of Friday morning, the country's overall number of cases and fatalities stood at 105,161,023 and 1,144,368, respectively.