Outdoor religious service restrictions lift; county reports new COVID-19 cases

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - Some restrictions on outdoor religious services were lifted today by San Diego County officials, who simultaneously reported 170 new COVID-19 cases and a related death.

The new data raises the county total to 9,610 confirmed coronavirus cases and 320 deaths, including Monday's addition to that count: a man in his late 70s who died June 7.

Despite the new cases, outdoor religious services will be allowed without restrictions on the number of worshippers so long as social distancing is maintained.

This followed a wild weekend in which bars reopened and hundreds of people -- many not wearing facial coverings -- were captured on social media, seen milling around outside bars in the Gaslamp District.

``The virus is still out there,'' County Supervisor Greg Cox warned. ``We must continue to be vigilant.''

Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said 13 California counties are struggling to keep metrics at a manageable level, and he doesn't want San Diego County to go down that path. Arizona has seen a dramatic spike in COVID-19 cases -- more than 7,300 new cases in the last five days -- which was on the minds of health officials.

``I can't predict what is going to happen, but we will see increased cases as we open up,'' said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer.

The county recorded the results of 5,207 new tests Monday, 3% of which represented positive cases. The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive tests is 2.9% and the county has recorded 232,701 total tests. In the past week, the daily average number of tests has exceeded 5,200 -- the county's initial goal for daily testing.

Among those testing positive, a total of 1,530 cases in the county have required hospitalization and 429 had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.

A total of 104 outbreaks of the illness have been tracked since the pandemic reached San Diego, with 54 of those still active. Of those, 18 are in skilled nursing facilities, 22 are in other congregate facilities and 13 are outbreaks in community settings.