San Diego COVID-19 Case Rates Inch Upward

According to the county health department’s most recent weekly COVID-19 report, the number of new cases per day in San Diego has climbed back above 1,000 on Tuesday.

Following a weekend in which daily numbers plummeted below 200, it was the second upward shift in as many days. However, an official letter stated that the lowest low seen since late November was “artificially low due to technical reporting concerns.”

A total of 952 new cases were reported on Tuesday, nearly doubling the 533 new cases reported on Monday. However, because of delays in communicating test results to the county epidemiology report, it is possible that many of the most recent positive results were associated with infections that occurred a week or more ago.

Hospitalizations in the local area, on the other hand, are continuing to decline. As reported in the county’s weekly update, the daily COVID-related hospital census — the total number of patients admitted to nonmilitary hospital beds on a daily basis — fell below 500 on Saturday, and then fell to 444 on Tuesday, according to the county. Since the middle of December, the figure has not dropped below 500. The impact on intensive care units (ICUs) has also improved significantly, with the number of COVID-related cases in ICUs dropping below 100 on February 23.

A total of 43 additional COVID-related deaths were reported across San Diego County during the course of the previous week. It was determined by the county that 23 of those who died had received all of their vaccinations and 20 had not; 41 had pre-existing medical issues. On February 25, a 25-year-old woman died, making her the youngest of the most recent round of fatalities. The most recent death was that of an 82-year-old man on February 26.

Despite recent increases in the Omicron subvariant BA.2 in a number of sites, the subvariant has not made a significant impact on local numbers. As of the most recent update on Wednesday, just 17 BA.2 variants were found on a website maintained by local experts that tracks all variants detected by worldwide genetic sequencing. Genetic testing of local wastewater has revealed that BA.2 is absent in 100 percent of samples, despite the most recent report was on Feb. 6, which was nearly a month ago.

Even while BA.2 appears to be slightly more contagious than earlier forms of Omicron, researchers have not yet discovered any statistically significant changes in the severity of sickness experienced by those who have been exposed to the virus.