California surpassed New York in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday, making the state the nation’s leader in cases. The state saw a record high number of new cases on Wednesday with 12,804 cases. It took the total number of cases statewide to 413,576, just surpassing the total number of cases in New York, once the epicenter of the virus. In a tweet, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged Californians to “take this seriously,” and to wear masks. State officials attribute the high case counts in part to the state’s large population— at 40 million residents—and increased testing. California remains behind New York in fatalities, which at more than 25,000 deaths has seen three times the number that California has.