The County Board of Supervisors received its first update of the year on the region’s COVID-19 response. This was also the first public COVID-19 briefing for the three new board members who were sworn in last week.
The board voted for more enforcement of businesses and operations inconsistent with safe reopening plans and extended the Great Plates Delivered program with free meals and income grants. The board also voted to ensure enforcement efforts are consistently applied based on scientific data on how and where COVID-19 spreads.
Board members also instructed staff to investigate the possibility of excluding companies that have repeatedly violated public health regulations from participating in COVID-19 financial aid programs.
To date, the district has received more than 17,000 complaints of health code violations, and the compliance team for safe reopening of the district has issued 335 orders. The number of violation complaints has grown exponentially since the region moved to the purple layer in November, with more than half of all complaints filed in the past month.
Rollout of COVID-19 vaccine
At the moment, the supply of vaccines remains limited and only San Diegans that fall into it Phase 1A of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution can be vaccinated. This mainly concerns people who work in health care and employees and residents of long-term care institutions. Healthcare personnel who are currently eligible for vaccination are encouraged to first contact their healthcare provider to request a vaccination.
Residents who are eligible for phase 1A and who cannot be vaccinated through their healthcare provider can make an appointment online at www.VaccinationSuperStationSD.com. Appointments are limited and individuals are encouraged to visit the website regularly if they cannot make an appointment right away.
“We understand that vaccination against COVID-19 is in high demand and that our community has many questions about the vaccination process,” said Nick Macchione, director of the County Health and Human Services Agency. The county will soon be rolling out a website feature that will clarify the tier system and allow the general public to sign up for reports about when and where to get their COVID-19 vaccine. A dashboard is also being developed showing how many San Diegans have been vaccinated with their first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. “
ICU Capacity and Stay Home Order:
- Current intensive care unit (ICU) bed availability for the Southern California region is 0.0% and is updated daily by the state.
- The Regional home order is in effect and prohibits gatherings of any size with people from other households and adds restrictions for multiple sectors.
- The order will last until ICU availability of the region is 15% or more.
Outbreaks in the community:
- On January 11, six new outbreaks were confirmed in the community: two in a corporate setting, one in a distribution warehouse, one in a faith-based agency setting, one in a government setting, and one in a healthcare setting.
- In the past seven days (Jan. 5 to Jan. 11), 48 outbreaks were confirmed in the community.
- The number of outbreaks in the community remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
- A community outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in an environment and in people from different households in the past 14 days.
To test:
- 18,119 tests were reported to the county on Jan. 11, and the rate of new positive cases was 19%.
- The moving average percentage of positive cases over 14 days is 13.8%. Target is less than 8.0%.
- The 7-day, daily average of tests is 27,474.
- People at higher risk for COVID-19 who are with or without symptoms should be tested. People with symptoms should be tested. Healthcare and essential workers should also be tested, as well as people who have been in close contact with a positive cause or live in communities that are heavily affected. Those who have recently returned from travel, or who have attended holiday gatherings, are also urged to get tested.
Cases:
- 3,524 cases were reported to the County on Jan. 11. The total of the region is now 198,319.
- Hospitalization was required for 6,313 or 3.2% of all cases.
- 1,273 or 0.6% of all cases and 20.2% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
Deaths:
- On Jan. 11, 41 new COVID-19 deaths were reported to the County. The region’s total is now 1,898.
- 14 women and 27 men died between December 17 and January 10.
- Of the 41 new deaths reported, 16 people who had died were aged 80 or older, eight people were in their 70s, 14 people were in their 60s, two people were in their 50s, and one person was in their 40s.
- 34 had underlying medical conditions, one did not and six had a medical history pending.
More information:
The more detailed data summaries on the The county coronavirus-sd.com website are updated daily around 5pm.