SAN DIEGO COUNTY, California — San Diego County set a record this week with over 1200 new COVID-19 cases in just two days and set a new record-breaking number of cases as we enter the first day of the purple tier on Saturday.
San Diego County recorded 736 new Coronavirus cases Saturday, the fourth day in a row topping 600 or more new cases in the county. Health officials hope moving to the purple tier will help bring that number down. This week the County released an interactive map that shows where the COVID-19 cases are and how much the virus is spreading in each neighborhood according to zip code. County officials are pleading with the public to help slow down the rate of infection.
“Whether your primary focus is saving lives and public health or opening business, we need to do the exact same thing. We need to come together as a community and we need to work the problem. We need to slow the spread,” said Nathan Fletcher, the San Diego County Supervisor who represents the 4th District.
Despite the pleas, the number of cases keep growing and California is one of only two states to reach one million Coronavirus cases. Fletcher says he knows it’s frustrating for business owners, employees and customers but it can be done.
“We need to look at the close to 20 states around our country that are stressing their healthcare systems to the limit and we need to know that that could be us. We need to look at countries around the world that have essentially gotten this thing down to zero and know that that could be us as well,” Fletcher said.
San Diego County is expected to be under the purple tier guidelines for at least three weeks and in the meantime, health officials are urging people to wear a mask, stay away from small and large gatherings, and continue to wash their hands.
If people follow the safety precautions and the number of cases decrease, San Diego County can move out of the purple tier and allow businesses to open up again.
