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Public health officials on Saturday announced an outbreak of COVID-19 cases at Awaken Church in Kearny Mesa, calling on anyone who attended services there between November 15 and November 22 to quarantine for 14 days from their presence.
The announcement came as the county released another daily record of positive COVID-19 cases, with 1,859 infected, compared to the previous record of 1,802 a day earlier. An additional death was also reported on Saturday.
County officials said in a statement they were taking the unusual step of publicly identifying the site of a COVID-19 outbreak because county contact tracers were unable to reach everyone who may have be exposed.
Awaken Church, on Balboa Avenue just east of Interstate 805, had been notified earlier in the week of the outbreak, defined as at least three laboratory-confirmed cases in people from different households who were returned to the same location within two weeks of the onset of illness.
Anyone exposed to Awaken Church services should also be tested for COVID-19, according to the announcement. County officials did not say how many cases were service-related.
There were 86 active community outbreaks in San Diego County on Saturday. Of these 16 cases, they were new outbreaks. The county has generally avoided specifying locations, instead identifying them by category, such as a restaurant or grocery store.
Awaken Church worried county public health officials this summer as it held large rallies in which few people wore masks. He continued to organize such services despite being cited for violating the county health order.
Awaken Church received a cease-and-desist order from the county on July 17 after it organized services inside in defiance of a public health order banning such gatherings.
Places of worship have gone to court to challenge state public health orders restricting in-person religious services to slow the spread of COVID-19, with rulings in California in May and Nevada in July being governors side.
The United States Supreme Court on Wednesday voted 5-4, along with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and the three dissenting liberal-minded justices, to ban restrictions on religious services that had been imposed by the governor Andrew M. Cuomo in New York.
Awaken Church could not be reached immediately for comment.
Saturday’s new positive COVID-19 cases accounted for 14% of the total tests administered.
County officials also reported 636 hospitalizations related to COVID-19, the largest in a day since at least the end of October and an increase of 56 from the number reported on Friday.
The COVID-19 population in intensive care also climbed to 175 on Saturday, two more than what was reported on Friday. The county was using 72 percent of its intensive care capacity.
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