San Diego County health officials reported over 17,000 confirmed new COVID-19 cases over the holiday weekend.
Recent figures from the Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) show there are 664 hospitalized due to the virus as of Monday. This is an increase from the days prior when health officials reported 628 hospitalizations on Sunday, 590 on Saturday and 510 on Friday.
On Thursday, the county reported 5,976 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 additional deaths associated with the virus, bringing its cumulative totals to 420,089 cases and 4,461 fatalities since the pandemic began.
No updates were provided over those three days since the HHSA does not report COVID data on the weekends or holidays.
Of the currently hospitalized patients,122 were in intensive care and there are 188 available ICU beds.
Many local community colleges have responded to the continued rise of COVID-19 cases by returning to virtual operations. On Monday, UC San Diego, along with other University of California campuses, began a planned two weeks of remote-only classes as an effort to reduce transmission.
Students and faculty, regardless of vaccination status, are required to complete a COVID-19 test on the day they return to campus for the winter quarter. Those who are not vaccinated and those who are vaccinated but have not received a booster shot are required to test for the virus two times per week, between three and five days apart.
With the rising number of COVID-19 cases, there is an increased demand for testing which has resulted in long lines at testing centers county-wide after New Year Eve celebrations. A total of 13,587 tests were reported on Monday, and the seven-day average positivity rate was 23.3%, up from 17.1% on Thursday.
According to San Diego Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher, the county is working to prioritize people who need to test to return to school or work. Additionally, County officials will try to increase capacity at the existing 24 county-ran testing sites, which can test 47,000 people each week.
The county is working on attaining more hotel rooms for individuals testing positive and needing to isolate, according to Fletcher.
In the meantime, county health officials recommend people worried about COVID-19 infections seeking a test only go to the hospital if they are experiencing severe symptoms. Those experiencing mild symptoms are advised to contact their health care provider.
