California just surpassed New York with the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the US

• California has surpassed New York as the US state with the most confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
• There are at least 409,231 confirmed cases in the West Coast state compared with New York's 408,181.
• The news comes as California rolls back reopening plans in light of the increase in infections and orders schools across the state's watch list to conduct remote learning come fall.

California has surpassed New York in the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19.

As the AP reported, the state's confirmed case count now sits at 409,231, about 1,200 more than New York's 408,181. While California outnumbers the Empire State in case counts, New York still has the highest number of reported deaths in the US, with at least 72,302. California is the most populous state in the US with nearly 40 million people, about double New York's population.

California exceeding New York in case counts is a stark contrast to where the two states were at the onset of the pandemic. New York was at one point the epicenter of the US coronavirus outbreak, with multiple reports surfacing of an overwhelmed healthcare system and horrifying stories of lives being lost. The state lagged behind California by just a handful of days in implementing a shelter-in-place order in March, a delay that some experts have said contributed to the state's outbreak.

California, on the other hand, was lauded for its quick action in issuing a stay-at-home order on March 19, two days after health officials carried out a similar one in the San Francisco Bay Area. The state became a national model of sorts for how to operate during a viral outbreak.

But as Business Insider reported in late June, that all came crashing down when California began setting new records for daily infections. Experts say some parts of the state reopened too early, just as many other parts of the US have done.