Given that the state has reached the mark of vaccinating 2 million people in the communities most affected by COVID-19, it has revised its tier system and San Diego County is expected to move to the red level by to activities on March 17th.
The change of levels will allow to resume the internal operations, with limited capacity and with modifications, in restaurants, gyms, cinemas and other establishments.
San Diego and 11 other counties are moving to the less restrictive Red Tier, which now requires a case rate of four to ten COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. The adjusted case rate calculated by the state of San Diego County is currently 8.8 cases per 100,000 residents.
“This is great news for our region. St. Diegans has done a good job following public health guidelines and this has reduced our case rate in recent weeks, “said Wilma Wooten, MD, MPH, county public health officer.” Our vaccination efforts they have also helped curb the spread of COVID-19. As more people are vaccinated, the number of cases should continue to decline. “
The County must remain at the red level and publish two consecutive weeks of data at the Orange level before moving to the less restrictive level which would facilitate more restrictions.
Currently, the test positive percentage is 3.3%, placing the county at level 3 or Orange level. The county’s health equity metric, which analyzes test positivity for areas with the lowest health conditions, is 4.5% and is also at the Orange or Tier 3 level. These metrics are also expects them to decrease when the state announces level allocations on March 16th.
Although two of the three metrics rate the county for the Orange or Tier 3 level, the state assigns the counties to the most restrictive level.
When the state administers 4 million doses to the quartile of vaccine equity, the level allocations will be reviewed again.
San Diego with chronic vaccine-eligible diseases Monday
From March 15, people between the ages of 16 and 64 who have a serious state of health will be able to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the County Agency for Health and Human Services announced today.
The vaccine is made available to people in this category because they are considered to have a high risk of serious disease resulting from COVID-19 due to their pre-existing medical condition.
“People with chronic illnesses should be vaccinated as soon as possible,” Wooten said. “All vaccines currently available are 100% effective in preventing serious COVID-19 diseases.”
San Diego residents with a severe or high-risk disability will also be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Phase 1 people are encouraged to get vaccinated by their healthcare provider. San Diegans without a doctor should contact 2-1-1 to stay connected to a provider or make an appointment at www.vaccinationsuperstationsd.com.
Those in San Diego who have a health care provider have no evidence of any pre-existing medical condition, as their medical history is already recorded and physicians should invite their patients to be vaccinated when touched. People who do not have a health care provider will be asked to sign a self-certification form stating that they have one of the listed chronic conditions.
Breweries can be opened without food
From March 13, breweries, wineries and distilleries that do not serve food can be opened to the open air only with modifications.
Employers visiting these establishments must make reservations and must meet a 90-minute deadline. In addition, the on-site consumption service must end at 8 p.m. The updated guidelines do not apply to breweries, wineries and distilleries that provide meals.
Vaccination progress:
- More than 1.27 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in the region and more than 1.18 million have been registered as administered. This number includes both county residents and those working in San Diego County.
- Of those vaccinated to date, about 400,000 county residents, or 14.8% of San Diego residents age 16 and older, are fully immunized.
- Overall, nearly 688,000 county residents have received at least one shot of the two-dose vaccine. It is 25.6% of those eligible.
- Those who receive the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine are added to the total of fully vaccinated San Diego.
- The difference between the doses administered and those used in a vaccination represents approximately what is expected to be administered in the next seven days and the doses that are yet to be entered into the registration system.
- You can find more information about vaccine distribution on the county vaccine board. For information on currently eligible groups and vaccination opportunities, visit www.vaccinationsuperstation.com.
Community configuration outbreaks:
- Three new community outbreaks were confirmed on March 11: one in a business setting, one in a TK-12th primary school and one in a restaurant / bar.
- In the last seven days (March 5-11), 12 community outbreaks were confirmed.
- The number of community outbreaks remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
- An outbreak of community environment is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in one environment and in people from different households during the last 14 days.
Tests:
- On March 11, 12,907 tests were reported in the county and the percentage of new positive cases was 3%.
- The average percentage of positive 14-day cases is 2.9%. The target is less than 8.0%.
- The average daily test for 7 days is 12,857.
Cases, hospitalizations and ICU admissions:
- On March 11, 362 COVID-19 cases were reported in the county. The total for the region is 264,889.
- 13,327 or 5% of all cases required 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 deaths were recorded for COVID-19 on March 11th. The total for 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 80 or older, five were 70, two were 60 and two were 50.
- 10 had underlying medical conditions, one did not have them and one had a pending medical history.
More information:
The most detailed data summaries can be found at The county coronavirus-sd.com website they are updated around 5pm daily.