REGION — San Diego County crossed two major milestones in the COVID-19 pandemic and now has more than 25,000 total cases and more than 500 fatalities.
With 587 new cases and 18 deaths announced Wednesday, the region’s totals reached 25,107 cases and 505 deaths.
As a result of numbers that continue to rise, Supervisor Greg Cox announced that San Diego County was starting a Safe Reopening Compliance Team that will provide assistance to businesses and residents not in compliance with public health orders. The team’s exact powers were not immediately clear.
“This is a carrot approach, not a stick,” Cox said Wednesday. “But we still have the stick and other tools to ensure compliance.”
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said the team would enable the county to step up enforcement on “egregious violations” — but the details on that enforcement were also unclear. Officials were reaching out to the various
cities and communities in the county to collaborate on solutions.
“This is out of an effort to keep our businesses open, not to close them,” Fletcher said.
After three days with a downward trend in cases, the 587 reported Wednesday marked a swing back in the other direction. Wednesday’s reported death toll was the largest daily increase in San Diego County since 17 deaths were reported last Thursday.
According to Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s public health officer, 95% of the county’s COVID-19 deaths had underlying medical conditions.
A total of 8,280 tests were reported Wednesday, and 7% returned positive. The county’s seven-day rolling average of positive tests is now 6%. The state’s target is below 8%.
Two new community outbreaks were identified Wednesday, bringing the total in the past seven days to 12. The number of community outbreaks — defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households — remains higher than the state threshold of seven or more in seven days.
The new outbreaks were reported in a business and a health care setting.
Of the total positive cases, 2,279 — or 9.1% — have been hospitalized and 592 — or 2.4% — have been admitted to an intensive care unit. As of Wednesday, 485 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized, 166 of them in intensive care units.
From July 13 to July 19, the county also reported the most hospitalizations, 163, and the most deaths, 56, in any one-week span since COVID-19 began spreading in the United States in March.
“We implore you to not wait for someone you care about to lose the fight against COVID-19 before you take action,” Wooten said Monday. She said the recent spike in cases began to occur after bars, hotels and gyms reopened June 12.
The percentage of San Diegans testing positive rose to 154.8 per 100,000 residents, well above the state’s criterion of 100 per 100,000.
Wooten said that to fall below that metric, the county would have to record 234 positive COVID-19 cases or fewer for 14 consecutive days.
The last metric the county has failed to maintain is the percentage of cases that have been handled by a contact investigator within 24 hours of being reported. There are more than 500 investigators employed by the county, and although 98% of all cases had been investigated in that time frame as recently as June 25, that rate had dropped to 9% as of Wednesday.
Wooten said that in response, the county is attempting to hire more contact investigators, with 97 set to come on board Friday and another 212 in the hiring process.
The number of cases continues to rise in people between the ages of 20 and 49 and particularly in people in their 20s, prompting the county to aim efforts at educating younger people.
Residents in their 20s account for 25.2% of the county’s cases, the highest percentage of any age group, according to county data. The next highest group are residents in their 30s, representing 19.1% of cases.
“While it’s true that the mortality for younger people is lower, it’s also true that the rate is not zero,” said Dr. Scott Eisman, a pulmonologist at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas. “The complications from
this illness are far greater, much longer-lasting and far more serious than the flu.”
Eisman also said heart attacks, strokes and serious blood clots are increasing among younger people confirmed to have COVID-19.
