Testing for coronavirus at UC San Diego Health
Testing for coronavirus at a UC San Diego Health facility. Courtesy UCSD

San Diego County public health officials reported 284 new COVID-19 infections and four deaths from the illness, raising the county’s total to 41,608 cases and 725 deaths.

Three women and a man died between Aug. 31 and Sept. 6. Their ages ranged from early 60s to late 80s. All had underlying medical conditions.

Of the 8,311 tests reported Thursday, 3% returned positive, decreasing the 14-day rolling average of positive tests to 4.4%, well below the state’s 8% guideline. The seven-day average number of tests performed in the county is 6,236.

Of the total positive cases in the county, 3,253 – or 7.8% – have required hospitalization since the pandemic began, and 775 – or 1.9% – were admitted to an intensive care unit.

County health officials reported three new community outbreaks on Wednesday, bringing the number of outbreaks in the past week to 23. Two of the outbreaks were in private residences and one in a business setting.

The number of community outbreaks remains well above the county’s goal of fewer than seven in a seven-day span. A community setting outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households in the past 14 days.

Of Thursday’s cases, another 69 were tied to San Diego State University, raising the total number of confirmed infected students on- and off-campus to 509 since the fall semester began Aug. 24

About 75% of students testing positive live in off-campus housing not managed by the university, with 73% of the cases among the freshman and sophomore classes.

The county is expanding its walk-in testing capabilities, adding sites at Cal State San Marcos, University of San Diego, San Diego State University, the Tubman-Chavez Community Center, Mar Vista High School and the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

See 211 San Diego for the full list of locations and hours.

Supervisor Greg Cox said the Great Plates program has been expanded by FEMA and the California Office of Emergency Services through Oct. 9 to provide three meals a day for seniors, or one meal a day for people over the age of 18 with a health condition. Nearly 3,000 people have enrolled in twin programs, but Cox said there are spaces for “many more” to sign up.

– City News Service