Fallbrook drops from 7th to 14th-lowest COVID-19 infections

Fallbrook’s number of coronavirus cases jumped from 46 last week to 63 as of June 23, while San Diego County recorded just under 11,100 cases after two straight dates of more than 300 new positive tests.

County health officials reported 302 new COVID-19 infections Monday, June 22, raising the cumulative total to 11,096 cases, while the death toll remained unchanged at 338.

The 302 new cases represent the second-largest increase since the pandemic began and 5% of the 5,831 tests reported Monday. The largest increase in cases came Sunday, when 310 tests or 7% of that day's tests were reported as positive.

The numbers are concerning public health officials, who had praised San Diego County for avoiding the brunt of the pandemic's ill effects so far.

“The message here is very clear,'' said county Supervisor Nathan Fletcher. “The dangers from coronavirus are real.''

And while Fallbrook’s 92028 ZIP code still doesn’t have a coronavirus infection rate as bad as other areas of the county – San Ysidro, for instance, has nearly 1,700 cases per 100,000 – the increase in local cases sent Fallbrook’s infection rate up to 130.5 per 100,000, according to data from the county. That number knocks 92028, which also includes Rainbow and De Luz, down from the 7th-lowest infection rate in the county to 14th place.

The ZIP codes with lower per capita coronavirus cases than Fallbrook at press time are:

● 92064 (Poway), 129.2 cases per 100,000

● 92075 (Solana Beach), 122.9 cases per 100,000

● 92010 (Carlsbad), 122.6 cases per 100,000

● 92029 (Escondido), 117.3 cases per 100,000

● 92130 (Carmel Valley), 112.7 cases per 100,000

● 92008 (Carlsbad), 108.9 cases per 100,000

● 92007 (Cardiff), 107.5 cases per 100,000

● 92009 (Carlsbad), 101.4 cases per 100,000

● 92107 (Ocean Beach), 101.0 cases per 100,000

● 92122 (UTC), 92.8 cases per 100,000

● 92106 (Point Loma), 86.4 cases per 100,000

● 92131 (Scripps Ranch), 83.4 cases per 100,000

● 92011 (Carlsbad), 79.5 cases per 100,000

Nearby Bonsall remains at eight cases, the same as a week prior, with no infection rate estimated by the county due to the small sample size.

Countywide, another three community outbreaks were reported Monday, raising the number reported in the last week to 10 – the most in any week's span since the pandemic began in early March.

The number was expected to drop at press time June 23, provided that additional outbreaks weren't detected the prior day, because three outbreaks detected June 16 are set to fall out of the county's one-week rolling monitoring period.

Community-transmitted COVID-19 outbreaks activated one of the county's public health triggers June 18, placing a pause on any additional openings allowed by the state.

“We continue to implore the public to wear facial coverings and avoid having gatherings at your home,” Fletcher said.

As part of the 13 public health triggers announced earlier this month, the county could take industry-specific actions, pause all reopening efforts or even dial back reopenings if enough of the metrics rise above a certain threshold. The threshold for community outbreaks – defined as three or more lab-confirmed cases from different households – was fewer than seven in a week's span.

Fletcher did not report where exactly the new outbreaks occurred, and said doing so would “undermine” cooperation the county was receiving from businesses and other locations to report COVID-19 outbreaks.

As of yet, a correlated increase in hospital stays, ICU visits and ventilator usage has not occurred, but Fletcher said those are lagging indicators and are likely to increase if the number of positive cases continues to rise.

The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive tests is 2.9%.

As of June 22, the number of cases requiring hospitalization totaled 1,627 and the number admitted to intensive care units was 451.

Personal care businesses such as skin care and waxing salons, tattoo parlors, massage therapists and nail salons were allowed by the county to reopen Friday, June 19.

County health officer Dr. Wilma Wooten, suggesting how long the COVID- 19 pandemic could impact the region, said it may not be safe for people to have gatherings at their homes “until sometime next year,” a far cry from the mid-March hopes of flattening the curve and ending the pandemic.

“With the reopenings, people think we can go back to the pre-COVID existence, and we cannot,” she said.

The county launched an interactive website early last week that allows residents to find COVID-19 testing locations near them. The website can be found at 211sandiego.org.

Will Fritz can be reached by email at [email protected].

City News Service contributed to this report.