If you schedule a meeting during the upcoming holidays, county health officials say you must cancel it.
Gathering with family or friends from outside your household can lead to a COVID-19 spike in cases and hospitalizations, putting further strain on a local critical care system that is already nearly full.
“I know how difficult this time of year is for so many of us. Holidays should be a time of gathering with family and friends. Things should be different this year, ”Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH, County Public Health Officer. “We know what happens when the holidays come and people get together. COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are on the rise. “
Since the availability of beds in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for the Southern California region fell below 15% and the Regional Stay Home Order went into effect, the situation has deteriorated further.
The availability of the IC bed is now zero. Hospitals in the region are being overwhelmed, even after adding more intensive care beds.
Here’s what the region has been through in the weeks after Thanksgiving:
- 44% or about 59,400 of the nearly 146,000 cases since the start of the pandemic occurred after Thanksgiving.
- Of the more than 5,500 hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic, about 780 or 14% took place after Thanksgiving.
- Of the 1,350 deaths reported since the start of the pandemic, about 330 or 25% happened after Thanksgiving. With the pace of deaths increasing, the region is on track to record 600 additional deaths by the end of January.
“We don’t want to see what happened after Thanksgiving anymore. 39 deaths have just been reported in one day. That’s a new record, ”said Wooten. “We have to stay apart to get the spread of the virus under control. If we don’t, cases, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to rise. “
COVID-19 vaccines available in the region:
- Total doses: 102,550 will be available from December 23, 2020.
- Pfizer: 29,250 doses; two doses administered three weeks apart.
- Moderna: 73,300 doses; two doses four weeks apart.
- The number of doses excludes federal, military, and multi-county entities such as Kaiser, as well as the Pharmacy Partnership Program.
ICU Capacity and Stay Home Order:
- Current ICU capacity for the Southern California region is now 0.0% and will be updated daily by the state.
- The Regional Stay Home Order is still in effect and prohibits gatherings of any size with people from other households and adds restrictions for multiple industries.
- The order will take a minimum of three weeks or until the region’s ICU capacity is 15% or more. The order will be reviewed by the state after the three-week period.
Outbreaks in the community:
- On December 22, 12 new outbreaks were confirmed in the community: three in a business setting, two in a TK-12 school setting, one in a daycare / preschool / daycare, one in a grocery store, one in a healthcare setting, one in a construction setting , one in an emergency services environment, one in a food / beverage processing environment, and one in a government environment.
- In the past seven days (December 16 to December 22), 44 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:
- 31,036 tests were reported to the County on Dec. 22 and the percentage of new laboratory-confirmed cases was 8%.
- The moving average percentage of positive cases within 14 days is 9.7%. Target is less than 8.0%.
- The 7-day, daily average of tests is 28,806.
- 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 case or live in communities that are heavily affected. Those who have recently returned from travel or who have attended vacation gatherings are also urged to get tested.
Cases:
- 2,598 new cases were reported to the County on Dec. 22. The region’s total is now 134,696.
- 5,524 or 4.1% of all cases require hospitalization.
- 1,160 or 0.9% of all cases and 21% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.
Deaths:
- On December 22, 39 new COVID-19 deaths were reported to the County, a new record. The total of the region is now 1,350.
- 20 men and 19 women died between December 9 and December 22, and their ages ranged from mid-40s to mid-90s.
- All but two had underlying medical conditions.
More information:
The more detailed data summaries on the The county coronavirus-sd.com website are updated daily around 5pm.