San Diego County COVID-19 cases top 5K, death toll unchanged

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - The number of COVID-19 cases in San Diego County has topped 5,000, but the death toll remained unchanged for the second day in a row.

County health officials reported 139 new cases on Monday, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 5,065. The number of deaths stands at 175.

As of Monday, 390 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, with 142 in intensive care units. There have been an estimated 2,966 recoveries from the illness in the region since the pandemic began.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer and San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday urging him to allow the San Diego region to reopen of its own volition.

The letter argues that the region is prepared to "thoughtfully reopen'' and includes a set of reopening strategies put together by the

Responsible COVID-19 Economic Reopening Advisory Group.

"San Diego County has worked very hard, particularly over the last several weeks, to develop safe plans for reopening,'' Faulconer said at a news conference Monday. "This is not a plan for businesses to return to normal. It's a plan for how businesses need to operate in the new normal, with physical distancing, sanitation, and limited occupancy.''

Dine-in restaurants, bars, shopping malls, car washes and other businesses are next in line to reopen under Newsom's phased plan, but when that is remains to be seen.

Of the 2,638 tests reported to the county on Monday, 5% were positive new cases. The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive tests is closing in on 5% following significant downward trends in positive case percentages. Officials have set a goal of 5,200 daily tests, and even with weekend testing at more than 3,000 per day, the county is well short.

According to the county's public health officer, the age range of COVID-19 cases goes from 3 months to 101 years old.

Dr. Wilma Wooten on Monday reported 63 active outbreaks in the county, with 41 in congregate living facilities traced to 1,344 cases and 89 deaths, and 22 community outbreaks with 232 cases and five deaths traced to

them.