A California Workers’ Compensation Institute analysis of claims reported to the state Division of Workers’ Compensation as of Jan. 11 shows that the number of COVID-19 claims in the California workers’ compensation system more than tripled between October and November, then jumped another 64.2% to a record 23,483 claims in December.

A new CWCIU projection shows that the December total could climb to 37,573 cases once claims that are yet to be filed or still under investigation are added to the tally.

The latest figures show that after falling to a six-month low in September, monthly COVID-19 claim counts started trending up in October as a wave of coronavirus cases hit the state. Not all November and December claims have been reported, but the initial data from those months shows that as of Jan. 11, the DWC had recorded 14,298 COVID-19 claims with November injury dates, and a record 23,483 COVID-19 claims from December, according to the analysis.

That year-end surge pushed the number of COVID-19 claims reported to the DWC for accident year 2020 to 93,470, which is 15.7% of all 2020 claims reported to the state, though with the recent spike, that proportion rose to 28.7% of all work injury claims reported for November and 47.4% of all claims reported for December, according to the CWCI.

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