SAN DIEGO (CNS) – San Diego County public health officials reported 603 new COVID-19 cases and nine additional deaths Saturday, bringing the region’s total to 26,701 cases and 533 deaths.
Authorities said five men and four women died between July 11 and 24 and that their ages ranged from 60 to 93. All but one had underlying medical conditions.
The county reported a record 16,429 diagnostic tests on Friday, 4% of which tested positive. The 14-day moving average of positive tests is 5.8%. California’s target is less than 8%. The daily average of 7-day tests is 9,406.
DATA: San Diego County Coronavirus Case Tracker
Of the total of positive cases, 2,364 – or 8.9% – required hospitalization and 606 – or 2.3% – were admitted to an intensive care unit.
A new outbreak in the community was reported Friday at a business. In the past seven days, 11 community outbreaks were confirmed. The number of community outbreaks is above the trigger of seven or more in seven days. An outbreak in a community setting is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in one setting and in people from different households.
Cal State San Marcos sent a notice to students and staff Thursday night notifying that two employees working on campus tested positive for COVID-19.
“One person was last on campus on July 16 and the other person on July 17,” the notice said. “Both are in self-isolation following public health protocols, as are people with whom they have had close personal contact.”
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As a result of the numbers continuing to rise, Supervisor Greg Cox announced Wednesday that San Diego County was starting a Safe Reopening Compliance Team that will assist businesses and residents who are not complying with public health orders. The exact powers of the team were unclear.
“This is a carrot approach, not a stick,” said Cox. “But we still have the stick and other tools to ensure compliance.”
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said the team would allow the county to step up enforcement of the “egregious violations”, but details about that enforcement were also unclear. Officials were reaching out to the county’s various cities and communities to collaborate on solutions.
“This is due to an effort to keep our businesses open, not to close them,” said Fletcher.
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From July 13 to 19, the county also reported the highest number of hospitalizations, 163, and most deaths, 56, in any span of a week since COVID-19 began spreading in the United States in March.
“We ask that you do not wait for someone you care about to lose the fight against COVID-19 before taking action,” Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, said Monday. She said the recent increase in cases began to occur after bars, hotels and gyms reopened on June 12.
The last metric the county was unable to maintain is the percentage of cases that have been handled by a contact investigator within 24 hours of notification. There are more than 500 investigators employed by the county, and while 98% of all cases had been investigated in that period as recently as June 25, that rate had dropped to 9% as of Wednesday.
Wooten said that in response, the county is trying to hire more contact investigators, with 212 in the hiring process.
