The monthly count of COVID-19 job injury claims reported to the California Division of Workers’ Compensation (DWC) soared to a record 32,549 cases in December, bringing the total number of COVID-19 claims for accident year (AY) 2020 to 103,712, or more than one out of every six workers’ comp claims with a 2020 injury date according to a new analysis by the California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI).

With additional year-end claims continuing to be filed, CWCI projects that the ultimate COVID-19 claim count for December will be 43,290 claims, while the projected count for all of AY 2020 is 117,989 COVID-19 claims.

The latest figures, based on claims reported to the DWC as of January 25, show that more than half (50.8%) of all workers’ compensation claims in California last month were for COVID-19, up sharply from 29.3% in November, which was the previous high-water mark for the year.

The year-end surge in COVID-19 job injury claims coincided with the post-holiday wave of coronavirus cases that hit the state.