San Diego County public health officials reported 228 new coronavirus cases and 3 deaths Wednesday while announcing an expansion of testing for teaching staff as schools reopen for in-class instruction.
Out of 8,327 test results received in the past day, 2.7% were positive, and the 14-day rolling average of positive tests remained at 3.6%.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher told a media briefing that testing for school staff — teachers, paraprofessionals and others — will be made available for free at all of the county’s 20 testing sites.
He said the testing would be available for public, private and charter school staff, and more testing sites will open by late September to increase accessibility.
“We’re doing everything that we can to try and facilitate and support a safe return to a learning environment,” he said. “We recognize the vital importance of education and the reality that 100% online is simply not an option for everyone.”
Dr. Wilima Wooten, the county’s public health officer, reported one more community outbreak for 20 over the past week. She said the county’s weekly case total now stands at 80.2 per 100,000 population, well under the state’s threshold of 100 and keeping the county off the monitoring list.
Since the first case in March, there have been 798,697 tests administered in San Diego County, resulting in 37,222 cases and 668 deaths
