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T he C oast News
OCT. 2, 2020
Coronavirus
County remains in red tier, many county playgrounds to reopen By City News Service
REGION — San Diego County public health officials have reported 251 new COVID-19 infections and five additional deaths related to the illness, raising the county’s totals to 46,985 cases and 781 fatalities. The new data comes as the county again avoided being pushed into the”purple’’ tier, the most restrictive in the state’s four-tier reopening plan. The county will remain in the red tier for COVID-19 cases, with a state- adjusted case rate of 6.7 per 100,000 residents, county Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma Wooten told the Board of Supervisors during their meeting Tuesday. The county’s testing positivity percentage is 3.8%. California officials announced changes to the monitoring system for counties on Tuesday. County public health officials said their unadjusted case rate was above 7.0, at 7.2. However, because testing levels were above the state median testing volume, the county’s adjustment level was decreased. Outdoor playgrounds in parks, campgrounds and other publicly accessible locations are slated to reopen this week. The county announced Tuesday that its 100 playgrounds will reopen Wednesday. Several cities have also moved forward with reopening their playgrounds on Wednesday or later this week, according to the county Parks and Recreation Department, which is assisting them in addressing the protocols for safe reopening. Protocols include social distancing, all people 2 years old or older mandated to wear masks, no eating or drinking allowed in playgrounds and limiting time to 30 minutes while others are present. Of the 8,997 tests reported Tuesday, 3% returned positive, dropping the 14-day rolling average
Coronavirus in North County
As of Sept. 28, 46,985 people in San Diego County have tested positive for coronavirus of whom 42,200 have recovered and 781 have died. In North County, 8,554 people have tested positive since the pandemic began, but the county does not release city-specific data on the number of recoveries. Map by Brad Rollins/The Coast News
Vista
Oceanside
1,872 1,233 860
Elsewhere in North County including Fallbrook, Bonsall, Valley Center
Escondido
Carlsbad
2,236
San Marcos
700
1,088 Rancho Santa Fe
69
Encinitas
403 Solana Beach
61
City of San Diego
Del Mar
32
20,643
San Diego County total
46,985 of whom 42,200 have recovered
North County total
8,554
Source: San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency
Confirmed cases
Cases per 100K residents
San Diego County
46,985
1,401.8
City of San Diego
20,643
1,453.1
Escondido
2,236
1,463.9
Vista
1,233
1,209.0
San Marcos
1,088
1,106.0
Oceanside
1,872
1,0516
Carlsbad
700
607.4
Encinitas
403
635.7
Solana Beach
61
437.8
Del Mar
32
--
Rancho Santa Fe
69
--
percentage of positive cases to 3.1%. The state-set target is less than 8%. The seven-day daily average of Of the total number of cases in the county, 3,515 -- or 7.5% -- have required hospitalization and 817 -- or 1.7% of all cases -- had to be admitted to an intensive care unit. Three new community outbreaks were reported Tuesday, in a business setting, a recreation center and in a hotel/resort/ spa setting. From Sept. 21 to Sept. 28, 20 community outbreaks were confirmed. The number of community
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outbreaks remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days. Three men and two women died Sept. 26, and their ages ranged from late 20s to mid-80s. The county announced Tuesday that it will be increasing the number of COVID-19 testing sites across the region from 29 to 41 and the number of tests available to be administered by public health nurses through the county’s lab contract with Helix will nearly double to about 30,000 weekly tests. Nick Macchione, county Health & Human Services director, said that along with facilitating the testing needs of schools, improved capacity will help the county stay above the state’s testing median. The county also now has seven community-based organizations working to stop virus
North County Covid 19 Testing Sites QUEST DIAGNOSTICS - OCEANSIDE VISTA 3601 Vista Way Ste 104, Oceanside 92056 COVID-19 testing only (no screening) Physician referral required Testing by appointment only Test type: Antibody Test Hours: 7:00 AM-4:00 PM Monday-Friday CVS HEALTH 1980 College Boulevard, Oceanside 92056 COVID-19 Drive Thru Testing Site By Appointment Only COVID-19 testing only (no screening) No physician referral required Test type: Molecular Test CVS HEALTH 635 South Melrose Drive, Vista 92081 COVID-19 Drive Thru Testing Site By Appointment Only COVID-19 testing only (no screening) No physician referral required Test type: Molecular Test CVS HEALTH 4615 Frazee Road, Oceanside 92057 COVID-19 Drive Thru Testing Site By Appointment Only COVID-19 testing only (no screening) No physician referral required Test type: Molecular Test CVS HEALTH Drive-up testing for COVID-19 7740 Rancho Santa Fe Road, Carlsbad 92009 Hours: By appointment only CVS HEALTH 2650 Gateway Road, Carlsbad 92009 COVID-19 Drive Thru Testing Site Appointment Only. No physician referral required COVID-19 testing only (no screening) Test type: Molecular Test
spread, Macchione said. “They play a vital role of reaching our hardest-hit communities,’’ he added. While the board took no new actions regarding policy, Supervisor Jim Desmond said the colored tier system is flawed, and that every business should be afforded the same opportunity to open up safely. “We’re not dealing with a widespread pandemic,’’ Desmond said, adding the county’s hospital cases are low. He said the county should not base its economic future on a vaccine. Supervisor Dianne Jacob praised county health officials, along with residents, for their efforts to combat the spread of the virus.”Hopefully we can keep moving forward,’’ she added. According to a report released Monday by the Chicano Federation, there are significant and systemic barriers preventing Latinos from receiving COVID-19 testing and participating in contact tracing efforts in San Diego County. However, the report,” Perceptions of Contact Tracing Among San Diego Latinos,’’ finds that Latinos in San Diego can and will participate in testing and contact tracing if the county’s testing, tracing and treatment strategy -also known as T3 -- is available in both Spanish and English, addresses privacy and financial concerns and removes isolation barriers. Of the more than 46,000 COVID-19 cases in the county to date, Latinos account for nearly 66% and nearly half of the 776 fatalities due to the illness. The group makes up around 35% of the county’s total population. San Diego State University reported three new cases of COVID-19 on
QUEST DIAGNOSTICS - VISTA SYCAMORE Scheduled to Begin Testing COVID-19 testing only (no screening) Physician referral required Test type: Antibody Test 902 Sycamore Ave Ste 201, Vista 92081 CVS HEALTH COVID-19 Drive Thru Testing Site By Appointment Only COVID-19 testing only (no screening) No physician referral required Test type: Molecular Test 1302 West Mission Road, San Marcos 92069 Hours: By appointment only CVS HEALTH COVID-19 Drive Thru Testing Site By Appointment Only COVID-19 testing only (no screening) No physician referral required Test type: Molecular Test QUEST DIAGNOSTICS ENCINITAS EL CAMINO REAL COVID-19 testing only (no screening) Physician referral required Testing by appointment only No drive-through testing Test type: Antibody Test 477 N El Camino Real Ste B201, Encinitas 92024 Hours: 7:30 AM-4:30 PM Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-12:00 PM Saturday MEDICAL ONE 4505 La Jolla Village Drive, C5 San Diego 92122 619-232-3500
Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,080 since Aug. 24, the first day of instruction for the fall semester. These totals include 1,036 confirmed cases and 44 probable cases. None of the COVID-19 cases have been connected with instructional or research spaces since fall instruction began. Of the students living on campus, 389 have tested positive and students living off campus totaled 669 positive cases, health services officials said. A total of eight faculty or staff members have tested positive and 14”visitors’’ -- people who have had exposure with an SDSU-affiliated individual -- have tested positive. The eight confirmed faculty or staff cases are from staff members associated with an auxiliary of SDSU. The information is based on cases reported to Student Health Services by an individual or by a public health official. As more private labs are administering tests, there is a possibility that not all cases are being reported to Student Health Services. County District 3 Getting Money to Help Small Businesses REGION — County supervisors today unanimously approved $4.1 million in grants to help 760 small businesses in District 3 affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Money from the county’s Small Business Stimulus Program will be used toward supporting public health and response activities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding comes from the federal CARES Act. The North County district -- which includes several coastal cities and 12
communities within the city of San Diego -- is represented by Kristin Gaspar. Her spokeswoman, Itica Milanes, said via email that there were 1,140 requests for grant money. Milanes said businesses receiving grant money include restaurants, hair and nail salons, small retail boutique stores, dental offices, art and music stores, gymnasiums, and personal and professional services. At an earlier meeting Sept. 15, supervisors also approved millions of dollars in CARES grants for the four other districts: — District 1 (Greg Cox): Roughly $3.9 million, which will be distributed among 506 businesses; — District 2 (Dianne Jacob): $4.1 million, for 254 businesses; — District 4 (Nathan Fletcher): $2.5 million, for 493 businesses; — District 5 (Jim Desmond): $4.1 million, for 776 businesses. Chicano Federation Report Finds Barriers With COVID-19 Testing REGION — According to a report released by the Chicano Federation today, there are significant and systemic barriers preventing Latinos from receiving COVID-19 testing and participating in contact tracing efforts in San Diego County. However, the report, “Perceptions of Contact Tracing Among San Diego Latinos,’’ finds that Latinos in San Diego can and will participate in testing and contact tracing if the county’s testing, tracing and treatment strategy -- also known as T3 -- is available in both Spanish and English, addresses privacy and financial concerns and removes isolation barriers. The Chicano Federation — established in 1969 to provide neighborhoodbased services to underserved youth, families and seniors across San Diego County — reported that the brunt of the coronavirus has fallen on Spanish-speaking Latinos and the county’s response to help this community has been seriously lacking. Of the more than 46,000 COVID-19 cases in the county to date, Latinos account for nearly 66% and nearly half of the 776 fatalities due to the illness. The group makes up around 35% of the county’s total population. “The County of San Diego’s T3 strategy has emphasized the importance of testing, tracing, and treatment to mitigate and contain the pandemic,’’ said Nancy Maldonado, Chicano Federation CEO. “With contact tracing as a key element of mitigating COVID-19, it was critical to gauge the perceptions of and barriers to contact tracing among our most impacted communities.’’