SAN DIEGO (CNS) – For the fifth day in a row, San Diego County Public Health officials have reported a case rate of less than 100 positive COVID-19 tests per 100,000 people – however, the state said it needs the data check before removing the province from its watchlist.
Earlier, officials and state officials had said that if the rate remained below 100 per 100,000 people for three consecutive days (it was 91.9 Sunday), the province would be officially removed from this list. After an additional 14 consecutive days below that number, K-12 schools could potentially reopen for personal education, depending on individual school district metrics.
Some 48 primary schools have submitted exemptions to the province to return to school early.
That timeline is now uncertain, as are the specifications of reopening certain companies for operations within.
While the province is awaiting further guidance from Govt. Gavin Newsom, public health officials on Sunday reported 334 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths as of Saturday, increasing the province’s total to 34,678 cases, leaving the death toll at 626.
Of the reported 7,047 tests, 5% returned positive, keeping the 14-day positive test rate at 4.3%, well below the state target of 8% or less. The 7-day rolling average of tests is 7,944 per day.
Of the total positive cases in the province, 2,856 – or 8.2% – required hospitalization since the pandemic began, and 715 – or 2.1% – were admitted to an intensive care unit.
Hospital officials also reported three new community outbreaks, bringing the number of outbreaks in the past week to 24. The latest outbreaks were reported in a business, a restaurant and a restaurant bar, according to the county Agency for Health and Human Services Agency.
The number of outbreaks of the community remains well above the province’s target of less than seven in a span of seven days. An outbreak of a community setting is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in an institution and in people from different households in the past 14 days.
Latinos are still disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with that ethnic group representing 61.3% of all hospitalizations and 45.4% of all deaths due to the disease. Latinos make up about 35% of San Diego County’s population.
A new COVID-19 test site began operating last week at the San Ysidro Port of Entry PedEast crossing, and County Supervisor Greg Cox cited its immediate success and demand for it.
The free test site will operate from 6:30 a.m. Monday through Friday through Friday and will focus on testing of essential workers and U.S. citizens living in Tijuana, according to San Diego County health officials.
No appointments are required on the walk-up page, which aims to offer around 200 tests every day. People who will be tested will not be asked about their immigration status or who lives with them, health officials said.
“We know that communities in South Bay have been hit the hardest by COVID-19,” Wooten said. “The location was selected because of the increase in cases in the region and the number of people, especially essential workers who cross every day.”
