A 40-year-old woman from San Diego is the first local case of COVID-19 first identified in Brazil, the County Agency for Health and Human Services announced today.
The woman’s sample was collected on March 5 and went through genome sequencing, which is only available 2-4 weeks after testing.
The woman had not been vaccinated, was not hospitalized, and since she had no known travel history, she is believed to have been exposed to someone in the community. The case investigation identified six close contacts outside the woman’s household.
A second case of P.1 or Brazilian variant was detected locally, but the person who had also not been vaccinated is not a resident of San Diego County. Four cases of the P.1 coronavirus variant were reported in California by March 19.
There is some evidence that P.1 and other new variants spread more easily, but it is not believed that P.1 variant causes more severe disease or increases the risk of death.
“San Diegans should not be alarmed. The COVID-19 vaccines currently available offer some protection against most variants, ”said Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH, a county public health officer. “People should continue to take preventive action against all variants of the new coronavirus.”
San Diegans should do the following more than ever:
- He’s wearing a mask
- Keep your distance from others
- Wash your hands
- When it’s your turn, get vaccinated
As of 23 March, a total of 336 cases of B.1.1.7, known as the UK variant, had been identified in the region. No cases of the variant first identified in South Africa have been reported in the region.
A report on COVID-19 variants is published every Wednesday on www.coronavirus-sd.com.
Vaccination progress:
- Nearly 1.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine were delivered to the region and over 1.5 million were registered as administered. This number includes both county residents and those working in San Diego County.
- Of those vaccinated so far, more than 510,000 county residents, or 19% of San Diegans aged 16 and over, are completely immunized.
- In total, almost 840,000 county residents received at least one photo of the two-dose vaccines. This represents 31.2% of those eligible.
- Those who receive the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine are added to the total of fully vaccinated San Diegans.
- The difference between the doses administered and those used in a vaccine is approximately what is expected to be administered in the next seven days and the doses to be entered into the registration system.
- More information about the distribution of vaccines can be found in the county dashboard. For details on currently eligible groups and vaccination opportunities, visit www.vaccinationsuperstation.com.
State values:
- The state-adjusted case rate in San Diego County is currently 5.5 cases per 100,000 residents. The county is in the red level.
- Currently, the percentage of test positivity is 2.4%, placing the county in level 3 or Orange level.
- The value of the county’s health equity, which analyzes the positivity of testing for the areas with the lowest health conditions, is 3.4% and is also in the Orange or Tier 3 level.
- While two of the three values qualify the county for the Orange level or level 3, the state assigns the counties to the more restrictive level.
- The California Department of Public Health evaluates counties on a weekly basis. The next report is scheduled for Tuesday, March 30.
Community outbreaks:
- Five new outbreaks in the community were confirmed on March 23. Two in business, one in a faith-based setting, one in a restaurant / bar, and one in a commercial setting.
- In the last seven days (March 15 to March 21), 15 community outbreaks 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:
- 11,282 tests were reported to the county on March 23, and the percentage of new positive cases was 2%.
- The average continuous percentage of 14 days of positive cases is 2.7%. The target is less than 8.0%.
- The daily average of 7 days of tests is 11,203.
Cases, hospitalizations and admissions to the ICU:
- 257 COVID-19 cases were reported to the county on March 23. The total for the region is now 268,417.
- 14,017 or 5.2% of all cases required hospitalization.
- 1,630 or 0.6% of all cases and 11.6% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
Deaths:
- 11 new deaths were reported with COVID-19. March 23. The total of the region is 3,509.
- Six women and five men died between January 23 and March 22. New deaths were reported with COVID-19 on March 20.
- Of the people who died, five were 80 years old or older, four were 70 years old, one was 60 years old and one was 50 years old.
- They all had underlying medical conditions.
More information:
More detailed summaries of the data found on The county’s coronavirus-sd.com website are updated daily around 17:00.