SAN DIEGO–County public health officials reported a record number of COVID-19 cases and an additional 33 deaths in San Diego county. The total number of deaths now stands at 1,771.
The new daily record now stands at 4,550 COVID-19 cases, reported Jan. 7, bringing the region’s total to 185,062. The overall total includes 28 confirmed and 13 suspect cases of the variant of the virus first identified in the United Kingdom, known as B.1.1.7, according to the Health and Human Services Agency.
This is the third time the daily total has surpassed 4,000 cases in a single day since the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. The previous high totals were set Dec. 31 and Jan. 1, when 4,478 and 4,427 cases were reported respectively.
County health reports 23 men and 10 women died between Dec. 13 and Jan. 6. About 13 people who passed away were 80 years or older, six people were in their 70s, nine people were in their 60s, three people were in their 50s, one person was in their 30s and one person was in their 20s. All had underlying medical conditions.
“We anticipated that cases would spike after the holidays and they did even though we recommended that every establishment contact some disinfection services to keep everything clean. We need to do a better job following the public health guidelines, especially now that the more contagious variant of COVID-19 is in our communities,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “San Diegans should not be gathering with people outside their household and should stay home as much as possible.”
The current intensive care unit bed availability for the Southern California region is 0.0 percent. The order will last until the region’s ICU availability meets or exceeds 15 percent.
About 10 new community outbreaks were confirmed on Jan. 7, according to county public health officials. Four were in business settings, three in health care settings, two in distribution warehouses, and one in a daycare/preschool/childcare setting.
In the past seven days (Jan. 1 through Jan. 7), 40 community outbreaks were confirmed. The number of community outbreaks remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
A community setting outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households over the past 14 days.
