Public health officials reported 12 more deaths from coronavirus disease on Tuesday as the number of cases in San Diego County grew by 50 to 1,454.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said social distancing measures are having an impact, but cautioned that the number of cases will continue to grow for some time to come.
“We know that our region is faring much better than many other areas,” said Fletcher at the county’s regular afternoon briefing. “That is because of the number of San Diegans who have committed to join with us in this effort.”
But, he added, “There continues to be community transmission of COVID-19 in San Diego County, and we expect this to continue for the foreseeable future.”
Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county’s Chief Health Officer, said officials were not alarmed by the increase in mortality — now at 2.1 percent of cases — because “the number of deaths typically lags behind the positive cases reported.”
She noted that not all of the recent deaths occured in the last day, as it can take several days to confirm coronavirus as the cause of death.
A total of 31 people have died of the disease since the first fatality was reported on March 22.
“Most of these individuals had underlying medical conditions,” said Wooten.
Asked whether there was evidence that the number of new cases was declining and the curve is flattening, Wooten said it is still to early to tell.
“I don’t think that we are flatting yet,” she said. “We would have to see a peak and then a decline.”
