SAN DIEGO — San Diego County officials released a map to show exactly where COVID-19 is spreading. The cases just keep growing and growing, and now San Diego County is seeing its highest rate of coronavirus cases since the pandemic began.
On Tuesday, San Diego County hit a record 661 new coronavirus cases reported. The next day, another 620 cases were reported bringing the total to 1,281 in just two days.
“So, when you see rising cases, rising percentages of positives, even modest increases in hospitalizations, it forces you to take action and that is moving into the purple tier," said Supervisor Nathan Fletcher. "That is our call for increased enforcement.”
San Diego County released this interactive map to show where and how much the virus is spreading per zip code. Although it has a population of only a few thousand, the COVID-19 rate in North County’s Rancho Santa Fe shows an average of 32 cases per week.
“Cities had previously requested the map to determine how they are faring during the pandemic,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., the county's public health officer. “The map gives cities a clearer picture of how COVID-19 is impacting their residents and will help them determine whether to take more aggressive actions to enforce the public health guidance to slow the spread of the virus.”
Fletcher said he completely understands people’s frustration, but there aren’t many options for fighting the virus.
“If we don’t take action now to slow the spread, the negative economic impact will be exponentially worse," said Fletcher. "So we’re faced often with what is the least bad option. That is the challenge that we are in front of and nobody takes any pleasure or joy in any of the things we’re having to do.”
The County hopes that by providing the interactive map, it will show people how much the virus is spreading in their neighborhood and move them to follow the safety guidelines. Fletcher said stopping the spread is all up to the people.
“Wear the mask, avoid large indoor gatherings, wash your hands and let’s slow the spread," said Fletcher. "We have to do it and we have to do it now.”
The latest report also showed over 4,000 Coronavirus cases required hospitalization and three men with underlying conditions also died this week. According to county data, 918 people have died countywide of COVID-19.
Seven new community outbreaks were confirmed on Nov. 11: three in retail settings, two in business settings and two in food processing settings. Additionally, 16 community outbreaks were confirmed Nov. 10: six in business settings, four in retail settings, two in restaurant/bar settings, one in a restaurant setting, one in a K-12 school setting, one in a gym and one in a health care setting.
The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases is 3.7%.