SD County reports 1,998 new COVID-19 cases, 50 hospitalizations

SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego County reported its third-highest daily total of COVID-19 cases Monday, Dec. 7 with 1,998 new infections as the county and the rest of Southern California entered a state-mandated ``regional stay-at-home'' order.

The nearly 2,000 new cases come as hospitalizations due to the coronavirus continue to increase, while overall hospitalizations dipped from

Sunday by nearly 100.

Monday was the seventh consecutive day with more than 1,000 new cases and the 15th time in the last 18 days. A record 2,287 infections were reported Friday.

The COVID-19 cases reported Monday bring the county's cumulative total to 94,169. No new deaths were reported Monday with the total remaining 1,062.

San Diego County reported 50 new hospitalizations Monday, raising that number to 4,921 -- or 5.2% of all cases in the county. Nine more patients were placed in intensive care, bringing the total to 1,077 -- or 1.1%.

Of the 4,517 people hospitalized in the county, 19.1% are due to COVID-19, and 42% of ICU patients. This compares to 7.8% and 21.4%, respectively one month ago.

The new health restrictions, which went into effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, were triggered when intensive-care unit bed availability remained below 15% after Saturday's daily update, according to the California Department of Public Health.

Those restrictions include shutting down indoor service at restaurants due to the rapidly increasing number of coronavirus hospitalizations.

The 11-county Southern California region's available ICU capacity was 10.9% as of Monday. It was 12.5% Saturday, a decrease from 13.1% Friday. The ICU capacity Sunday for the region was 10.3%.

San Diego County had 24% of its ICU beds available Monday, a 5 percentage point improvement over Sunday as non-COVID-19 ICU patients decreased by 39.

The county reported 21,195 tests Monday, with 9% testing positive. The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases is 7.4%.

Six new community outbreaks were reported Monday: two in businesses, two in healthcare settings, one in a private residence and one in a government setting. A community setting outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households over the past 14 days.