Researchers at UC Berkeleyestimate that the costs of testing for the novel coronavirus and treating confirmed COVID-19 cases across California already has topped $2.4 billion and some Bay Area counties are enduring the state's highest per-capita costs. Without a vaccine, the statewide cost of COVID-19 now stands at roughly six times that of treating the flu every year and could pass $25 billion before California reaches "herd immunity," the researchers estimate. Herd immunity occurs when 60 percent or more of a population has been infected and is immune. The study, "What are the Health Care Costs of COVID-19 in California?: State and County Estimates," was released by UC Berkeley's Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare. For more on this, see our press release at Berkeley News.