SAN DIEGO COUNTY, California — San Diego County reported 15 deaths and 2,104 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, the second-highest daily case total and one that comes as hospitalizations continue to surge.
The infections reported Wednesday are second only to Friday's record 2,287 and raise the county's cumulative total to 97,549. Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, said she anticipates the total cases to cross 100,000 before the end of the week.
While availability in the county’s intensive care units remains around 20%, the regional availability, which triggered the stay-at-home Order, was at 9%.
“We are doing what we can to ensure that we can take care of every patient that walks through our doors, but we need your help,” said Diane Hansen, CEO of Palomar Health. “We have the ability to expand from the 48 ICU beds that we have to as many 110 beds, but that’s only one solution. It takes staff.”
The county has previously experienced surges during influenza outbreaks and adjusted to treat patients. However, hospital staff have been under pressure for eight months during the coronavirus pandemic and the ICU system was not designed to remain near-capacity for more than three to four weeks.
“We cannot sustain months on end of what we’re seeing currently,” said Wooten.
Staff also do not recover from contracting COVID-19 the same as they may from influenza.
“When a staff member got influenza, with taking the influenza vaccine and with Tamiflu and other therapies, they were able to go back to work a week later or less. Now, with COVID, it could last at least 14 days if not longer,” said Rob Sills, director of the county’s Medical Operations Center.
Another 15 deaths and 36 hospitalizations were reported Wednesday, raising the death toll to 1,103 and the number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations since the pandemic began to 4,987.
Wednesday's numbers mark the ninth consecutive day with more than 1,000 new reported cases and the 17th day of the last 20 to meet that mark. It is just the third time the daily cases have crossed 2,000, all of which have come in the past week.
San Diego health care systems have begun transferring patients within their individual networks to avoid overwhelming any single hospital or ICU. They have not needed to transfer to other systems or out of the county. The state’s mutual aid system traditionally counts on San Diego to assist smaller, more rural counties within the Southern California region.
The onslaught of cases has also backed up efforts to trace the virus’ spread within the county. Tracers have made contact with about half of new cases within 24 hours, well short of the state’s goal of 70%. San Diego County has set an internal goal of 90%.
Wooten said the county is in the process of hiring additional tracers. The process of interviewing positive patients has also taken longer because the county added more investigative questions to determine where a person went in the days before receiving their results.
“The timing with the 2,000 plus daily cases requires us to bring on additional staffing,” said Wooten. “We’ve maintained between 56 and 27% and with bringing on additional staff, we hope to get back above the 70%, which is our triggers target.”
During the briefing, San Diego County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher offered a somber message as he reminded county residents hospitalizations tend to lag, showing the effects of increased cases after 21-24 days. Thanksgiving was 14 days ago.
"We don't want to waste an entire year of sacrifice," he said. "The aim and intention of what we are doing right now is to limit the interaction of those from different households."
Both Fletcher and fellow Supervisor Greg Cox said they weren't happy with the stay-at-home orders, but according to data presented Tuesday by Natasha Martin, UC San Diego associate professor of medicine, without serious shutdown actions, the county was looking at filling every intensive care bed before Christmas.
Martin's model showed a significant reprieve if there is a three-week stay-at-home order. An eight-week shutdown, according to Martin's model, would be even more effective in quashing rising COVID-19 rates.
"Vaccinations are on the way," Cox said before urging personal responsibility. "But we can't wait for the cavalry to arrive."
As it stands Wednesday, San Diego County has 915 people hospitalized due to COVID-19, 228 in intensive care units. The county's hospitals still have 20% of their ICU beds available, but that could shift rapidly if cases continue unabated.
The county has seen a 196% increase in COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the past 30 days and a 142% increase in ICU patients in the same time frame. The previous peak in hospitalizations, in mid-July, topped out around 400 patients.
Of the 4,583 people hospitalized in the county, 19.9% are due to COVID- 19, and 41.6% of ICU patients.
The agency reported 21,743 tests Wednesday, with 8% testing positive. The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases is 7.4%.
Six new community outbreaks were reported Wednesday: two in businesses, two in daycare/childcare settings, one in a food processing setting and one in a retail setting. A community setting outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households over the past 14 days.
The full presser can be seen below.