San Diego County reports 124 new COVID-19 cases as it awaits state data

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — San Diego County public health officials confirmed 124 new COVID-19 cases Monday, increasing the region's totals to 46,734 cases as the county awaits the state's data for reopening Tuesday.

The state will hold its weekly update Tuesday, with San Diego last week barely avoiding the dreaded "purple" tier. Under state monitoring metrics, San Diego County is currently in the second tier, or the red tier. The county's state-calculated, adjusted case rate is 6.9 per 100,000 residents. The testing positivity percentage is 3.8%.

No new deaths associated with the illness were reported Monday and the total fatalities remain at 776.

Of the 6,010 tests reported Monday, 2% returned positive, dropping the 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases to 3.3%. The state-set target is less than 8%. The seven-day daily average of tests was 8,431.

Of the total number of cases in the county, 3,502 -- or 7.5% -- have required hospitalization and 816 -- or 1.7% of all cases -- had to be admitted to an intensive care unit. A total of 249 people in the county were hospitalized with the illness Monday, with 87 of those in the ICU. The county estimates 42,111 people have recovered from COVID-19.

One new community outbreak was reported Monday. From Sept. 21 to Sept. 27, 18 community outbreaks were confirmed. The number of community outbreaks remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.

According to a report released Monday by the Chicano Federation, there are significant and systemic barriers preventing Latinos from receiving COVID-19 testing and participating in contact tracing efforts in San Diego County.

However, the report, "Perceptions of Contact Tracing Among San Diego Latinos," finds that Latinos in San Diego can and will participate in testing and contact tracing if the county's testing, tracing and treatment strategy -- also known as T3 -- is available in both Spanish and English, addresses privacy and financial concerns and removes isolation barriers.

Of the more than 46,000 COVID-19 cases in the county to date, Latinos account for nearly 66% and nearly half of the 776 fatalities due to the illness. The group makes up around 35% of the county's total population.

San Diego State University reported three new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,077 since Aug. 24, the first day of instruction for the fall semester. A total of 33 cases were reported at SDSU on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

These totals include 1,033 confirmed cases and 44 probable cases. None of the COVID-19 cases have been connected with instructional or research spaces since fall instruction began.

Of the students living on campus, 387 have tested positive and students living off campus totaled 660 positive cases, health services officials said. A total of eight faculty or staff members have tested positive and 13 "visitors" -- people who have had exposure with an SDSU-affiliated individual -- have tested positive.

The eight confirmed faculty or staff cases are from staff members associated with an auxilary of SDSU.

The information is based on cases reported to Student Health Services by an individual or by a public health official. As more private labs are administering tests, there is a possibility that not all cases are being reported to Student Health Services.