SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – The number of daily COVID-19 cases in San Diego County has crossed 600 for the first time, as the total number of cases increased to 22,489.
County public health officials reported a record 634 new cases on Friday and seven additional deaths, raising the death count to 472.
The 634 cases mark the fifth time in the past week that county officials recorded more than 500 new cases in one day. Authorities recorded more than 500 cases four times in the past week, with 508 last Saturday, 558 on Sunday, 539 on Tuesday, and 559 on Wednesday.
Of the seven deaths, three were women and four men. They died between July 7 and July 15 and ranged from the early 1950s to the late 1990s. They all had underlying health conditions.
The county recorded 9,224 tests on Friday, of which 7% tested positive. The 14-day moving average is now 6.1%. The state’s target is below the positive test rate of 8%.
Two new outbreaks were reported in the community on Friday, bringing the weekly total to 13, well above the county metric of no more than seven in a span of a week. The new outbreaks were reported in restaurants.
A community outbreak is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in one setting and in people from different households.
Of the total positive cases, 2,154 – or 9.6% – have been hospitalized and 562 – or 2.5% – have been admitted to an intensive care unit.
As of Thursday’s data, a new record of 153.2 out of every 100,000 San Diego residents is testing positive for the disease, well above the state criteria of 100 per 100,000.
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 time period as recently as June 25, that rate has dropped to a sad 37%. The county metric is to reach 71% of new cases in one day.
Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County public health officer, said that in response to these declining rates, the county is trying to recruit more contact investigators. In just a three-hour period after the job posting went online Wednesday, more than 300 requests came in.
Horizon Clinical Research Director Dr. Mona Hacker joined Good Morning San Diego to discuss the latest coronavirus data in San Diego County.
To help South Bay increase testing capacity, the county Health and Human Services Agency and the Chairman of the Board of County Supervisors, Greg Cox, opened a new testing site in Imperial Beach on Thursday morning.
The free access test site is located in the parking lot of Mar Vista High School, at 505 Elm Ave. The site will offer up to 185 appointments per day.
This new location brings the total number to six test sites in South County and is part of the County’s South Bay Saturation strategy. Additional test sites are located in San Ysidro, two in Chula Vista, and two in National City.
The number of cases continues to increase in people between the ages of 20 and 49 and particularly in people in their 20s, prompting the county to make efforts to educate younger people.
San Diego residents ages 20-29 account for 24.9% of the county’s cases, the highest percentage of any age group, according to county data.
“While it is true that the mortality of younger people is lower, it is also true that the rate is not zero,” said Dr. Scott Eisman, a pulmonologist at Scripps Memorial Encinitas Hospital. “The complications of this disease are much bigger, much more lasting and much more serious than the flu.”
Eisman said in studies of the SARS and MERS outbreaks, other coronaviruses, that people who had the disease and showed symptoms sometimes did not regain original lung capacity until a year or more after symptoms began.
“All indications lead us to expect it to be at least as serious as those diseases and much more aggressive,” he said, adding that even healthy people could see months of complications from the disease.
Eisman also said that heart attacks, strokes and serious blood clots were on the rise among younger people confirmed with COVID-19. A total of 58% of those who confirmed having the disease in the county were between 20 and 49 years old.
Following Governor Gavin Newsom’s updated health order on Monday, all indoor operations ceased at midnight Tuesday in gyms, houses of worship, non-critical office businesses, beauty salons and hair salons, indoor shopping malls and services. personal care such as massage parlors and tattoo parlors. .
The Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, which started its racing season five days ago, canceled its racing schedule for next weekend on Wednesday after 15 riders recently tested positive for COVID-19. The races will resume on July 24.
