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SAN DIEGO (CNS) – For the fifth day in a row, San Diego County public health officials reported a case rate of less than 100 positive COVID-19 tests per 100,000 people – however, the state said that ‘He will need to review the data before removing the county from its watch list.
Earlier, county and state officials had said if the rate stayed below 100 per 100,000 (it was 91.9 on Sunday) for three consecutive days, the county would be officially removed from that list. After an additional 14 consecutive days below that number, K-12 schools could potentially reopen for in-person instruction, depending on the settings of each school district.
Some 48 elementary schools have filed waivers with the county to return to school early.
That timeline is now uncertain, as are details of some businesses reopening for domestic operations.
As the county awaits further information from Governor Gavin Newsom, public health officials on Sunday reported 334 new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths on Saturday, bringing the county’s total to 34,678 cases, with the death toll remaining to 626.
Of the 7,047 tests reported, 5% came back positive, keeping the 14-day positive test rate at 4.3%, well below the state’s target of 8% or less. The 7-day running average of tests is 7,944 per day.
Of the total positive cases in the county, 2,856 – or 8.2% – have required hospitalization since the start of the pandemic and 715 – or 2.1% – have been admitted to an intensive care unit.
County health officials also reported three new outbreaks in the community, bringing the number of outbreaks over the past week to 24. The latest outbreaks were reported in a business, restaurant and bar / restaurant, according to County Agency for Health and Human Services.
The number of community outbreaks remains well above the county’s goal of less than seven in seven days. A community-based outbreak is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in one setting and in people from different households in the past 14 days.
Latinos are still disproportionately affected by COVID-19, with this ethnic group accounting for 61.3% of all hospitalizations and 45.4% of all deaths from the disease. Latinos make up about 35% of the population of San Diego County.
A new COVID-19 test site began operating last week at the San Ysidro PedEast Port of Entry crossing, and County Supervisor Greg Cox cited its immediate success and demand.
The free testing site will operate from 6.30 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday and will focus on testing essential workers and U.S. citizens who live in Tijuana, according to San Diego County health officials.
No appointment is necessary at the walk-in site, which aims to offer around 200 tests per day. People who get tested will not be asked about their immigration status or who lives with them, health officials said.
“We know the communities of South Bay have been hit the hardest by COVID-19,” Wooten said. “The location was chosen because of the increase in cases in the area and the number of people, especially essential workers who cross daily.”
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