Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma
SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego County officials today said the
availability of respirators and the capacity of Intensive Care Unit beds in the
county's fight against the coronavirus has actually grown.
Dr. Nicholas Yphantides, the county's chief medical officer, said that
when he looked at some data this morning he saw ``something pretty
remarkable.''
``The availability of ICU beds and the number of respirators that are
available has actually grown,'' Yphantides said.
The doctor said there were many technological innovations going on at
local hospitals, such as tele-consultations and call-in nurses.
He also wanted to remind the public that ventilators do not run themselves.
``We are very mindful of our most precious commodity, and that is our
health care workers,'' Yphantides said. At a recent town hall forum, he
reminded people that doctors and nurses are human, too,
``We are really in the eye of the storm right now,'' the chief medical
officer said. ``The hope is that this Category 5 storm can be lessened and
become more manageable.''
Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said he wanted to encourage people to rely
on trusted sources of information about the health crisis.
The health department will hold another coronavirus briefing on Sunday
which will include San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and Fletcher.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Diego County saw
its highest one-day jump yet when the number rose to 131 on Friday, an increase
of 26 cases over the previous day.
``The message is very clear,'' County Public Health Officer Dr. Wilma
Wooten said. ``All Californians are being asked to stay at home if you do not
need to go out for essential reasons.''
The increase in cases included 27 people hospitalized, with seven of
the cases involving people aged 80 or older. There have been no deaths due to
the illness in the county, according to the county health department's latest
information.
Of the 131 positive cases, 110 are residents of the county -- 18 of
them hospitalized; 11 are under federal quarantine, with six of those patients
hospitalized; and 10 are non-residents, three of whom are hospitalized. The
vast majority -- 99 cases -- of those who have tested positive have been under
the age of 60. One individual's age is unknown.
Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide ``stay-at-home'' order Thursday
night, advising residents not to leave their homes except for essential needs.
Essential services will remain open, including: gas stations,
pharmacies, banks, laundromats, and places to obtain food, including grocery
stores, farmers markets, food banks, convenience stores, take-out and delivery
restaurants.
Any other public event or gathering is considered non-essential and is
banned under the order until further notice.
Health officials have asked local hospitals and laboratories to comply
with county orders to report all testing results, positive or negative. A
lack of reagent fluids is limiting the number of tests many facilities can
complete a day, throwing off regional estimates of testing capabilities.
Under the stay-at-home mandate, all gyms and fitness centers are
closed and gatherings of 10 or more are barred. The mandate also restricts
childcare to ``stable'' groups of 10 children with one childcare provider.
The ``stable'' vocabulary refers to the same group of 10 children each
day and the same provider each day. If a daycare or related business has
more than 10 children, each group needs to be in separate rooms and cannot
intermingle. Social distancing is encouraged even among the subgroups.
The health orders banning gatherings do not apply to public transit,
airports or any other mass transportation. The Metropolitan Transit System said
it would continue running buses and trolleys at least until March 31 with
ramped-up sanitization procedures on vehicles and at stations.
All five tribal casinos in the county will remain closed through the
end of the month.
On Thursday, San Diego County's family resource centers, as well as
the housing and community development services office, three of the five
locations of the county clerk's office and all treasurer-tax collector offices
temporarily suspended in-person services. The closures are intended to help
county residents practice social-distancing to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, the Ramada hotel in Kearny Mesa announced it will be used
as a quarantine site for people potentially exposed to coronavirus.
The Ramada by Wyndham San Diego North Hotel & Conference Center
located near Kearny Mesa Road, north of Clairemont Mesa Boulevard near state
Route 163, will be used by the federal government to house patients under
quarantine at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. The hotel has 151 rooms and
will be closed to the public.
The patients being transferred from the base to the hotel are
experiencing mild or no symptoms, federal authorities said.
Fox5 reported the hotel is being monitored by the California Highway
Patrol and U.S. Marshals Service. Conditions within the hotel are being
controlled to prevent exposure to the public, authorities said.
The Disney cruise ship Wonder docked Thursday in San Diego, and none
of the 1,980 passengers aboard show any respiratory problems consistent with
COVID-19, though one crew member has tested positive for influenza. The
passengers continued to disembark Friday.
Fletcher said the county had increased the number of available hotel
rooms for unsheltered individuals or for those who cannot shelter in place to
more than 1,300. Fletcher said Thursday that he and Supervisor Kristin Gaspar
were writing a board letter seeking to place a moratorium on evictions in the
county, including in unincorporated areas.
Fletcher, Faulconer and other local elected officials spoke with the
government of Baja California on Thursday to work on cross-border solutions to
the global problem of COVID-19.
Simon Property Group temporarily closed all its malls and outlets and
the closure will last until at least March 29. The group owns several
properties in San Diego County, including the Fashion Valley mall and Carlsbad
and Las Americas Premium outlets.
Students at San Diego State University and University of San Diego
were instructed to move out of their dorms amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Exceptions included students who can't go home, those without a home
to return to and those with known health and safety risks.
San Diego Community College District colleges, including City, Mesa
and Miramar colleges, have officially closed their campuses. Remote operations
for the schools will begin Monday.
San Diego County libraries have shifted to curbside pickup and drop-
off to encourage residents to practice social distancing while still getting
books, music and movies from the library. Residents can use the library's
online catalog or call their branch libraries and pick them up between 9 a.m.
and 4:30 p.m. weekdays.
County Supervisor Greg Cox said more than 200 hand-washing stations
had been placed around the county.
The Navy closed its Training Support Command center in San Diego last
week after a third sailor with ties to the school tested presumptive positive
for the novel coronavirus. Two students and an instructor at the school have
tested presumptive positive for the illness in the past several days, according
to the Navy.
The latest sailor with ties to the school to test positive is
stationed aboard the USS Essex and had been attending a course at Naval Base
San Diego since Feb. 6.
Two more sailors, one stationed on the USS Boxer, which is home-ported
in San Diego, and the other aboard the littoral combat ship Coronado based
at Naval Base San Diego, also tested positive for COVID-19.
The schoolhouse where the training occurred will remain closed until
further notice. Military health professionals are conducting a contact
investigation to see if any additional precautionary measures need to be taken.
Three Marines at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar have also tested
positive for the virus, leading to new health protections on the base.
Kelvin Barrios, a candidate for the San Diego City Council's 9th
District, announced on his Facebook page today he had tested positive for COVID-
19.
``Having ups and downs, with fever, headache and shortness of
breath,'' Barrios said on Facebook. ``But still doing OK.''
And Chula Vista City Councilman Steve Padilla, who tested positive for
coronavirus, remained hospitalized after experiencing difficulty breathing.
Padilla was admitted to UC San Diego Thornton Hospital on Thursday night and
placed on a respirator in its intensive care unit after experiencing worsening
symptoms, his daughter, Ashleigh, said in a statement.
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