COUNTY REPORTS 8 NEW COVID-19 OUTBREAKS
Other numbers appear stable as region awaits latest state assessment
A day after San Diego County reported a single-day record 19 new confirmed COVID-19 outbreaks, newly confirmed outbreaks dipped to eight in the county’s Friday coronavirus report.
That brings the seven-day total to 37. Seven or more outbreaks in a seven-day period hits the county’s trigger to modify its public health order.
It’s the alarm bell that won’t stop ringing, though the county generally does not listen to it.
San Diego has hit the trigger repeatedly, with no modification to public health orders. The county has reported 342 COVID-19 community outbreaks between March 25 and Oct. 6, linked to 2,483 cases. Five of the
most recently confirmed outbreaks were in businesses, three in restaurants/bars. Members of the public looking for exact outbreak locations will not find them, because the county does not report them. The Union-Tribune, KPBS and Voice of San Diego have joined to sue San Diego County for these specifics.
The county has stated that releasing outbreak locations would undermine its contact tracing efforts.
On Monday, the state will once again determine what reopening tier San Diego County falls into based on its case rate and the percent-positive rate on COVID-19 tests during the week of Sept. 27 to Oct. 3. The county is currently in the second-most-restrictive tier. To reopen further, San Diego will need to reduce test positivity among the county’s underserved communities, as defined by the
state’s “health equity” score.
The state’s Monday assessment will not be announced until Tuesday. But key numbers in the county’s Friday coronavirus report were quite stable, and generally encouraging. The county reported 357 new COVID-19 cases; that’s an increase over 291 cases reported yesterday, but within the range reported over the past month. And 13,829 reported tests bring the county’s seven-day average testing volume to a bit over 9,800.
That generally bodes well for the next tier assessment, though it’s unclear how many of these tests were conducted during the Sept. 27-Oct. 3 period the state will review. Generally, the more tests the county conducts, the more the state adjusts its case rate downward.
Hospitalizations are also holding steady, with 278 San Diegans in the hospital due to COVID-19. Given that Labor Day was Sept. 7, and the incubation period for COVID-19 typically lasts up to 14 days, it seems that cases connected to the holiday weekend have not put major stress on local hospitals.
The county reported that two more San Diegans died of COVID-19: a 60-year-old male and a 97-year-old female. Both had existing medical conditions (as do most people).