With recent holidays and family gatherings, the number of hospitalizations due to coronavirus in San Diego County surged past 600, according to data released on Sunday.
As of Sunday, 628 people in the county were hospitalized with COVID-19, which is 39 more from the numbers reported on Saturday. Hospitals saw 10 more patients in intensive care from the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 124.
Compared to the rest of the state, San Diego County has the second highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and surpassed San Bernardino county who reported 624. Los Angeles county ranks the highest number of hospitalizations at 1,792.
County health officials anticipated a surge during the winter months and have promoted vaccinations and testing among residents. The most recent count provided by the county reports 5,976 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of cases to 420,089 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Reported deaths related to the virus increased by 11, which brings it’s cumulative totals to 4,461. No case updates were provided over the holiday weekend.
The COVID-19 case rate is three times higher for those who are unvaccinated compared to those who have received vaccines 36 daily cases per 100,000 population compared to 11.4 per 100,000 for the vaccinated. County health officials say the4 hospitalization rate is four times higher for the unvaccinated and death is seven times higher.
The Delta strain remains the most dominant in San Diego county with just 91 confirmed cases in the county, but the time period measured began on Dec.3. The highly infectious Omicron variant is the dominant strain throughout the nation.
County health officials recommend that people worried about the COVID-19 infection and others seeking testing to only visit a hospital to be tested if they have severe symptoms. Those with mild COVID-19 symptoms should contact their healthcare provider for guidance.
A total of 28,472 tests were reported in San Diego County as of Wednesday, and the seven-day average positivity rate was 14.5%, up from 12.4% on Tuesday.
Antigen testing kits are available at retail stores, but have become more difficult to find as demand continues to grow.
Last week, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency said the supply of 70,000 COVID-19 test kits that were made available at county libraries had all been distributed.
