Health officials on Wednesday reported five more deaths from coronavirus and 115 news cases in San Diego County.
Dr. Nick Yphantides, the county’s medical director, said the deaths included a 90-year-old woman, and four men aged 83, 74, 73 and 71.
So far there have been 15 deaths from COVID-19 throughout the county. Based on a current total of 849 cases, the death rate is now at 1.8% of cases.
Yphantides and Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said April will be a critical month for the region with sheltering at home and social distancing determining whether San Diego avoids what has happened in Italy and New York City.
Fletcher warned that some San Diegans “have not quite bought in” and the county is considering ways to tighten health orders and enforcement.
“We know that the efforts are working. They are lowering the spread,” he said. “But the simple realitys is that we face a horrifically contagious virus.”
Fletcher also said the county has now distributed just under 500,000 N95 masks to local hospitals and counts 533 ventilators currently available for use with critical cases.