SAN DIEGO COUNTY, Calif. — Some San Diego city parks were partially reopen Tuesday following weeks of Coronavirus pandemic-related closures.
San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer, who announced the re-openings on Monday, said park-goers will be limited to individual activities, with all social distancing, face covering recommendations and other health-related measures remaining in effect.
On the same day some city parks were partially reopened, San Diego County health officials also reported an increase of 109 confirmed cases and 15 deaths, raising the totals to 2,434 cases and 87 fatalities.
This makes for the deadliest day since the pandemic began and the most new cases in nearly two weeks.
"We're not out of danger yet," said Board of Supervisors Chairman Greg Cox.
City leaders said whether other recreational facilities are opened in the future "will be dependent upon how closely physical distancing rules are followed and the ongoing monitoring of COVID-19 cases."
Regional areas, such as beaches, boardwalks, golf courses and trails remain closed, according to the mayor.
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher warned that opening the county's public spaces up with no restrictions too soon would cause a second spike of cases and deaths -- and that's only if the county has reached the peak of cases and deaths, which he said is not clear.
"When we reopen, it will not be a political decision and it will not be an emotional decision," Fletcher said.
Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's Public Health Officer, said the county would measure five metrics when weighing listing public health orders.
Those metrics, designed by the federal government, are:
-- a downward trend in influenza-like illnesses;
-- a downward trend in COVID-like illnesses;
-- a downward trend in percentage of total tests turning up positive for COVID-19;
-- treating patients with a normal level of staff and resources and not using emergency resources;
-- robust testing in place for at-risk health care workers.
New testing guidelines from the California Department of Public Health recommend testing people in high-risk settings even if they don't have symptoms.
The new guidelines are aimed at health care workers, prisoners and the homeless. The California Department of Public Health released the testing guidelines in a memo dated Sunday that was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Recent outbreaks have hit two California homeless shelters in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Most of the people infected in the San Francisco shelter did not have symptoms.
California is now testing an average of 14,500 people per day.
On Wednesday, Governor Gavin Newsom will provide an update on the six key areas defined last week in the state's "Roadmap to Recovery" that would have to be met for statewide restrictions to be relaxed.
"We'll do a deep dive in one of those areas," Newsom said at his press conference on Tuesday, "on testing, tracing, tracking. isolation and quarantine."