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County launches Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report

Katie Cadiao

County of San Diego Communications Office

The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency is introducing a new combined Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report that will provide San Diegans with a detailed snapshot of common respiratory illness activity in the region on a weekly basis.

The new report will be released each Thursday and contains, for now, both flu and COVID-19 activity, including cases, outbreak information and deaths. The report contains graphs and tables that allow the community to compare illness activity this year to activity during prior seasons.

The Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report replaces the separate Influenza Watch and COVID-19 Watch reports the county released previously.

"The new report paints a more comprehensive picture of respiratory illness activity in the region," said Wilma J. Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. "The report is a one-stop-shop for community members and healthcare providers, and we will continue to update it with new features in the future, as necessary."

San Diegans can sign up for the report at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/CASAND/subscriber/new.

This year, the county has already seen several large suspected respiratory outbreaks in October, including a cluster of illnesses at local schools. The high number of flu cases and other respiratory illnesses this early in the season is prompting health officials to urge San Diegans to take precautions.

"We have reason to believe that respiratory illnesses could be extremely disruptive in the region this year for businesses, hospitals, and people's lives. San Diegans must do their part to prevent the spread of these illnesses," said Wilma J. Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. "I want to remind San Diegans to use precautions we know are effective in protecting against illness, including the flu."

Wooten added that people should recommit themselves to the following precautions this fall and winter:

● Wash hands thoroughly and often;

● Use hand sanitizers, if unable to wash hands;

● Stay away from sick people;

● Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth;

● Clean commonly touched surfaces; and

● If you are sick, stay home and avoid contact with others.

COVID-19 deaths:

10 additional deaths were reported since the last report on Oct. 13, 2022. The region's total is 5,517.

Of the 10 additional deaths, two were women and eight were men. They died between Jan. 29, 2022, and Oct. 5, 2022. One of the newly reported deaths occurred in the last two weeks.

Four of the people who died were 80 years or older, three were in their 70s and three were in their 50s.

Eight were fully vaccinated and two were unvaccinated.

All had underlying medical conditions.

Cases, case rates and testing:

1,591 COVID-19 cases were reported to the county in the past seven days (Oct. 11 to Oct. 17). The region's total is now 927,970.

The 1,591 cases reported in the past week were slightly lower compared to the 1,855 infections identified the previous week (Oct. 4 to Oct. 10).

4,710 tests were reported to the county on Oct. 15, and the percentage of new positive cases was 4.0% (Data through Oct. 15).

The 14-day rolling percentage of positive cases, among tests reported through Oct. 15, is 3.9%.

More information:

Data updates to the county's website, https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/coronavirus.html, will be published Thursdays around 5 p.m., with the exception of holidays.

 

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