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

COVID-19 cases continue upward trend locally; first vaccines begin to be distributed

Coronavirus cases are continuing to climb in the Fallbrook area and the greater San Diego region, showing few signs of abating as the very first doses of regulator-approved vaccines begin to roll out locally for use by the military and high-risk groups like medical personnel.

The weekly average case rate for the 92028 ZIP code – which also includes De Luz and Rainbow – was 20.7 cases per 100,000 for the most recent week available, Nov. 22-28. The case rate had been 17.8 cases per 100,000 the prior week, and 12.2 cases per 100,000 the week before that, a clear trend in the wrong direction.

There were 71 new positive coronavirus cases in 92028 between Nov. 22-28, reflecting a 9.1% positivity rate and up from 61 new positive cases the week prior. As has been the case for weeks, 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 34.2 per 100,000 between Nov. 11-18, according to county data, having reported 28.5 cases per 100,000 the week prior.

In the wider county, health officials have reported 2,416 new COVID-19 infections and 11 new deaths, marking 107,372 total cases and 1,162 deaths.

Dec. 13 marked the fifth consecutive day that more than 2,000 new cases were reported, with 2,490 cases reported Dec. 12, 2,867 cases – a record – reported Dec. 11; 2,050 reported Dec. 10 and 2,104 Dec. 9. It is also the 13th day with more than 1,000 new cases. It is just the sixth time the daily cases have crossed 2,000 – all of which have come in the past week.

Of 25,274 tests reported countywide, 10% returned positive.

The number of hospitalizations also continued to rise, with 39 people hospitalized and 11 patients put in intensive care units.

The county's hospitals have 16% of their ICU beds available, down from 21% Thursday. The state now estimates the ICU bed availability in the 11-county Southern California region at 4.2%, down from 7.7% on Thursday.

In the San Joaquin Valley, only 1.5% of ICU beds are available. The Greater Sacramento region has 15.1% of ICU beds available and the Bay Area has 16.7%, with Northern California at 29.0%

The county has seen a 199% increase in COVID-19 related hospitalizations in the past 30 days and a 148% increase in ICU patients in the same time frame. The previous peak in hospitalizations, in mid-July, topped out around 400 patients.

Seven new community outbreaks were reported Dec. 12. 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.

Doses of the Pfizer vaccine began shipping out from a Michigan facility Dec. 13 bound for Southern California distribution centers and other locations in the United States.

The Naval Medical Center in San Diego and the Naval Hospital in Camp Pendleton should receive doses of the first coronavirus vaccine this week, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

San Diego military officials could not be reached for comment on the exact timing of the vaccine's arrival at the two naval hospitals.

The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control signed off on the recommendation of an advisory committee Dec. 13, officially permitting the vaccine to be administered in the United States. Trials have reported it to be 95% effective in preventing the coronavirus.

City News Service contributed to this report.

 

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