San Diego County reported 1,271 new COVID-19 cases and three new deaths Saturday.
Along with the new infections reported Saturday, an one more person was hospitalized and one was sent to an intensive care unit. The cumulative number of cases is now 313,589 since the pandemic began, while the death toll is 3,824, according to the county Health and Human Services Agency.
A total of 15,248 tests were reported Saturday, and the percentage of new positive tests over the past week is 8.4%.
The county’s case rate in Wednesday’s weekly data per 100,000 residents was 21.5 overall. People who are not vaccinated are seeing case rates nine times those who are — 41.1 to 4.5 per 100,000 residents, data show.
The rate of hospitalization for the unvaccinated is about 51 times higher than for those fully vaccinated — 1.01 average daily hospitalizations compared to .02, according to the data.
Demand is increasing locally for COVID-19 tests, prompting the county to open several new testing sites this week. A site at Border View YMCA, 3601 Arey Drive, was scheduled to open Sunday and be open Sundays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
On Thursday, a site opened at North County Lifeline in Vista, 200 Michigan Ave. and will be open Thursdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
On Tuesday, a testing site opened at Lemon Grove Senior Center, 8235 Mount Vernon St., open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
On Wednesday, a site at Northgate Market San Diego, 5403 University Ave., opened that will be available for testing on Wednesdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
In addition to these new sites, the county opened six others last week, bringing the daily testing capacity to about 6,500 tests each day. Testing is also widely available through pharmacies and other medical providers, with hospital emergency departments primarily for those symptomatic and in need of immediate care.
For a complete list of COVID-19 testing locations, go to coronavirus- sd.com/testing.
All the new sites are in response to a striking surge in COVID-19 cases throughout the county, largely attributed to the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
— City News Service