A record number of cases and another 58 deaths through COVID-19 were reported on December 31, the County Agency for Health and Human Services announced today.
With 4,478 COVID-19 cases reported, the region’s total is now 160,073. It is the first time that the daily total exceeds 4,000 cases in a single day and eclipses the previous record set on December 17, 2020, when 3,611 cases were reported.
Moreover, 58 additional deaths were reported as of December 31, and the total now stands at 1,592. This is the second highest daily total reported after 62 deaths on December 30.
“The record number of cases and high numbers of deaths we see means we need to do better by following public health guidelines, especially avoiding all unnecessary contact with those outside our immediate household,” said Eric McDonald, MD. , MPH, medical director of the Branch of County Epidemiology and Immunization Services. “With vaccines increasingly available, we anticipate turning the corner in our fight against COVID-19 in 2021, but it looks like it will be a very difficult January.”
With the recent local detections of B.1.1.7. The new coronavirus strain first found in the UK, San Diegans should do the following more than ever:
- Wash your hands
- He’s wearing a mask
- Keep your distance from others and leave the household only for essential activities
- If you are sick, take the test, then stay home and isolate yourself
ICU capacity and order of stay at home:
- The current availability of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed for the Southern California region is now 0.0% and will be updated daily by the state.
- The Regional Stay Home Order is in force and prohibits meetings of any size with people from other households and adds restrictions for several sectors.
- The order will last until the ICU availability of the region meets or exceeds 15%.
Community outbreaks:
- Eight new outbreaks were confirmed on December 31: four in business settings, two in grocery settings, one in a medical setting and one in a faith-based setting.
- In the last seven days (25 December to 31 December), 53 outbreaks of Community outbreak have been confirmed.
- The number of Community outbreaks remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
- A community outbreak is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in a setting and in people from different households in the last 14 days.
testing:
- 31,602 tests were reported to the county on December 31, and the percentage of new cases confirmed by the laboratory was 14%.
- The daily average of 7 days of tests is 21,726.
- People at higher risk of COVID-19 who are with or without symptoms should be tested. People with any symptoms should be tested. Nurses and essential workers should also receive a test, as well as people who have had close contact with a positive case or live in communities that are severely affected. Those who have recently returned from travel or who have attended holiday meetings are also urged to be tested.
Cases:
- 5,914 or 3.7% of all cases required hospitalization.
- 1,219 or 0.8% of all cases and 20.6% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
deaths:
- On December 31, 58 new deaths were reported to the county through COVID-19. The total for the region is now 1,592.
- 37 men and 21 women died between December 14 and December 31, and their ages ranged from the late 1940s to the early 1990s.
- 42 had basic medical conditions and 16 have a pending medical history.
More information:
More detailed summaries of the data found on the county website coronavirus-sd.com are updated daily around 17:00.