Given that the state has reached a mark of vaccinating 2 million people in the communities most affected by COVID-19, it has overhauled its tier system and San Diego County is expected to move to the Red Tier for activities on March 17.
The change in levels allows indoor activities with limited capacity and adjustments to resume in restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and other settings.
San Diego and 11 other counties are moving to the less restrictive Red Tier, which now requires four to 10 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. The state-calculated, adjusted number of San Diego County cases is currently 8.8 cases per 100,000 residents.
“This is great news for our region. San Diegans have done a good job following public health guidelines and that has brought our number of cases down in recent weeks, ”said Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH, County Public Health Officer. “Our vaccination efforts have also helped slow the spread of COVID-19. As more people are vaccinated, the number of cases should continue to decline. “
The County must stay in the red layer and post two consecutive weeks of data in the orange layer before moving to the less restrictive level, which would ease more constraints.
Currently, the test positivity rate is 3.3%, placing the County in Tier 3 or the Orange Tier. The County health equity measure, which looks at test positivity for areas with the lowest healthy conditions, is 4.5% and is also in the Orange Tier or Tier 3. These measures are also expected to decline when the state is on March 16 announces tier allocations.
While two of the three statistics qualify the County for the Orange Tier or Tier 3, the state assigns counties to the most restrictive tier.
When the state administers 4 million doses in the vaccine equity quartile, the rankings will be revised again.
San Diegans with chronic illnesses eligible for vaccination Monday
Starting March 15, people between the ages of 16 and 64 with a serious health condition can get vaccinated against COVID-19, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.
The vaccine is made available to people in this category because they are believed to be at high risk of serious illness from COVID-19 due to their pre-existing medical condition.
“People with chronic health problems should be vaccinated as soon as possible,” said Wooten. “All vaccines currently available are 100% effective in preventing serious illness from COVID-19.”
San Diegans with developmental disabilities or other serious, high-risk disabilities are also eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
People in stage 1 are encouraged to get vaccinated by their healthcare provider. San Diegans without a doctor should contact 2-1-1 to get in touch with a healthcare provider or to make an appointment at www.vaccinationsuperstationsd.com.
San Diegans who have a healthcare provider have no evidence of an existing medical condition because their medical history is already on file and doctors must invite their patients to get vaccinated when it is their turn. People without a healthcare provider will be asked to sign a self-certification form stating they have one of the listed chronic conditions.
Being able to open breweries without food
Starting March 13, breweries, wineries, and distilleries that don’t serve meals will only be allowed to open outside with adjustments.
Patrons visiting these institutions must have a reservation and adhere to a 90-minute time limit. Also, the service for on-site consumption must end at 20:00. The updated guidelines do not apply to breweries, wineries and distilleries that provide meals.
Progress vaccination:
- More than 1.27 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been delivered in the region and more than 1.18 million have been recorded as administered. This number includes county residents as well as those who work in San Diego County.
- Of those vaccinated so far, nearly 400,000 residents of the county, or 14.8% of San Diegans ages 16 and older, have been fully immunized.
- In total, nearly 688,000 residents of the county have received at least one injection of the two-dose vaccine. That’s 25.6% of those who qualify.
- Those who receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine are added to the total of fully vaccinated San Diegans.
- The difference between the doses administered and the doses used in a vaccination roughly represents what is expected to be administered in the next seven days and the doses still to be entered into the registration system.
- More information about vaccine distribution can be found on the County’s vaccination dashboard. For details on currently eligible groups and vaccination options, please visit www.vaccinatiesuperstation.com.
Outbreaks in the community:
- On March 11, three new outbreaks were confirmed in the community: one in a corporate setting, one in a TK-12th primary school setting and one in a restaurant / bar setting.
- In the past seven days (March 5 through March 11), 12 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:
- 12,907 tests were reported to the county on March 11, and the rate of new positive cases was 3%.
- The moving average percentage of positive cases over 14 days is 2.9%. Target is less than 8.0%.
- The 7-day, daily average of tests is 12,857.
Case studies, hospital admissions and IC admissions:
- 362 COVID-19 cases were reported to the County on March 11. The total of the region is now 264,889.
- 13,327 or 5% of all cases require hospitalization.
- 1,621 or 0.6% of all cases and 12.2% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
Deaths:
- 12 new COVID-19 deaths were reported on March 11. The total of the region is 3,434.
- Seven men and five women died between December 23 and March 10.
- Of the 12 deaths reported on March 11, three people who died were aged 80 or older, five were in their 70s, two were in their 60s, and two in their 50s.
- 10 had underlying medical conditions, one did not and one 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.