The County Council of Supervisors received its first update of the year on the region’s COVID-19 response. This was also the first public briefing for COVID-19 for the three new board members who took office last week.
The Board voted to increase oversight over businesses and operations that do not comply with the safe reopening plans and extended the Great Plates Delivered program, providing free meals and income stipend programs. The Council also voted to ensure that enforcement efforts are applied consistently based on scientific data on how and where COVID-19 spreads.
Board members also directed the team to see if it is possible to exclude companies that have repeatedly violated public health orders from eligibility for COVID-19 financial assistance programs.
To date, the County has received more than 17,000 complaints about health order violations, and the County Safe Reopening Compliance Team has issued 335 termination and withdrawal orders. Complaints about violations have increased exponentially since the region switched to Purple Level in November, with more than half of all complaints made last month.
Launch of the COVID-19 vaccine
At the moment, the supply of vaccines remains limited and only the san diegans that fit Phase 1A distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine can be vaccinated. This mainly includes health workers and employees and residents of long-term care facilities. Healthcare professionals who are eligible to be vaccinated at this time are encouraged to contact their doctor first to request a vaccination.
Eligible Phase 1A residents who cannot be vaccinated through their health care provider can make an appointment online at www.VaccinationSuperStationSD.com. Appointments are limited and individuals are encouraged to check the site regularly if they cannot make an appointment immediately.
“We understand that the demand for the COVID-19 vaccination is high and that our community has a lot of questions about the vaccination process,” said Nick Macchione, director of the County Health and Human Services Agency. “The county will launch a website feature soon that will clarify the tier system and allow the general public to sign up for notifications about when and where they can get their COVID-19 vaccine. A panel is also being developed to show how many San Diegans were vaccinated with their first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. “
ICU capacity and order of stay at home:
- The current availability of beds in an intensive care unit (ICU) for the Southern California region is 0.0% and will be updated daily by the state.
- O Regional home stay order is in place and prohibits meetings of any size with people from other families and adds restrictions for various sectors.
- The order will last until the availability of ICUs in the region reaches or exceeds 15%.
Community configuration outbreaks:
- Six new community outbreaks were confirmed on January 11: two in commercial settings, one in a distribution depot, one in a religious agency setting, one in a government setting and one in a health setting.
- In the past seven days (January 5 to January 11), 48 community outbreaks have been confirmed.
- The number of outbreaks in the community remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
- An outbreak in a community setting is defined as three or more cases of COVID-19 in an environment and in people from different households in the past 14 days.
Test:
- 18,119 tests were reported to the county on January 11, and the percentage of new positive cases was 19%.
- The 14-day moving average percentage of positive cases is 13.8%. The target is less than 8.0%.
- The daily 7-day test average is 27,474.
- People at higher risk for COVID-19 with or without symptoms should be tested. People with any symptoms should get tested. Healthcare professionals and essentials should also be tested, as well as people who have had close contact with a positive case or live in communities that are being highly affected. Those who recently returned from a trip or who participated in festive events should also take the test.
Cases:
- 3,524 cases were reported to the county on January 11. The total for the region is now 198,319.
- 6,313 or 3.2% of all cases required hospitalization.
- 1,273 or 0.6% of all cases and 20.2% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to the intensive care unit.
Deaths:
- 41 new COVID-19 deaths were reported to the county on January 11. The total for the region is now 1,898.
- 14 women and 27 men died between 17 December and 10 January.
- Of the 41 new deaths reported, 16 people who died were 80 years old or more, eight people were in their 70s, 14 people in their 60s, two people in their 50s and one person in their 40s.
- 34 had underlying medical conditions, one did not and six had pending medical history.
More information:
The most detailed data summaries found in the County coronavirus-sd.com website are updated around 5pm daily.