Also serving the communities of De Luz, Rainbow, Camp Pendleton, Pala and Pauma

San Diego County reports record number of new COVID-19 cases

Fallbrook sees increase in cases as well

Coronavirus cases are on the rise again in San Diego County, with a record-high 1,478 new COVID-19 infections and two new deaths being reported Saturday, Nov. 21.

The number of new infections was lower on Sunday, Nov. 22, the most recent date for which information was available at press time, with 939 new cases, but that was still the 12th consecutive day that more than 600 new coronavirus cases were reported by the county.

The county also reported eight new deaths on Nov. 20 – there have now been a total of 69,231 coronavirus cases and 960 coronavirus deaths in San Diego County.

Nov. 20 was the 10th consecutive day more than 600 new coronavirus cases were reported by the county, and the most reported in a single day.

In response to rising cases in counties across the state, California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Nov. 19 announced California counties in the state's “purple” tier, which San Diego officially entered Nov. 14, will be subject to a curfew prohibiting all “nonessential” activities and gatherings between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The “limited Stay At Home Order'' took effect at 10 p.m. Nov. 21 and will remain in effect until 5 a.m. Dec. 21.

California updated its four-tier COVID-19 reopening statistics Monday, with San Diego County among those sinking further into the purple tier of the state's four-tier economic reopening roadmap.

And Fallbrook is far from immune from the increase in cases. The weekly average case rate for the 92028 ZIP code – which also includes De Luz and Rainbow – was 8.2 cases per 100,000 for the most recent week available, Nov. 4-10. The case rate had been 6.1 cases per 100,000 the week before that.

There were 28 new positive coronavirus cases in 92028 between Nov. 4-10, a 6.6% positivity rate.

The numbers look even worse in the county’s Fallbrook “jurisdiction,” which is a smaller section of the 92028 ZIP code that includes just the smaller Census-designated place definition of Fallbrook. That jurisdiction was reporting a case rate of 14.0 per 100,000 between Nov. 5-11, according to county data, having reported 9.8 cases per 100,000 the week prior.

The state’s threshold for purple tier status is a daily COVID-19 case rate of 7 or more, so if Fallbrook were in a county unto itself, it still would likely be facing the increased restrictions of the purple tier, which San Diego County backslid into Nov. 14.

The county as of Nov. 23 had a rate of 12.1 new daily coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents, an increase of 2.1 compared to last week. The state-adjusted daily case rate increased to 10.7 per 100,000 population from 8.7 last week.

The region has an adjusted rate due to a significant effort to increase the volume of testing.

San Diego County's rate of positive tests increased from to 4.3% Nov. 17, the most recent day for which information was available, from 2.6% a week prior. The health equity metric, which looks at the testing positivity for areas with the least healthy conditions, remained steady at 6.5%.

County officials also announced on Nov. 19, the same day as the governor’s stay-at-home order announcement, that law enforcement will step up COVID-19 compliance protocols, including education and citations, amid spiking coronavirus cases.

Sheriff Bill Gore said four two-deputy teams will begin making “a full-time commitment” to the county's 18 cities and unincorporated areas, ensuring compliance with public health orders. Several cities have already confirmed they will send officers to assist deputies in their duties, Gore said.

Gore said deputies would not be going door-to-door but, rather, follow up on complaints. Education about public health orders will be the first method used, Gore said. Citations could follow.

“The bottom line is wear those damn masks out there and social-distance,” he said

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

City News Service contributed to this report.

 

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