SAN DIEGO (CNS) – The number of positive COVID patients in San Diego County hospitals rose to 943 from 889 on Saturday, according to the latest state figures Sunday.
Of those patients, 169 were in intensive care, nine more than the day before. The number of ICU beds available was reduced from one to 169.
Due to a massive influx of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations, San Diego County public health officials urge residents not only to receive all vaccinations and the booster shot, but to seek tests for the disease if necessary.
According to county data, in the past month, confirmed COVID-19 cases increased from about 4,700 per week to more than 45,000 cases reported in the seven days between December 29, 2021 and January 4, 2022. That is it’s almost a ten-fold increase. in just 30 days.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have also more than doubled in the past 30 days, from 303 to 837, putting pressure on local hospitals that are dealing with hundreds of employees unable to work after contracting the virus.
Some COVID-positive patients may have been hospitalized for other reasons and had their COVID status discovered through hospital-mandated tests.
“Now we are seeing the largest number of local cases of the pandemic. COVID-19 is everywhere, ”said Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health official, last week. “The best way to slow the spread of COVID-19 is to have as much immunity as possible and to take other precautions that we know work.”
The county Health and Human Services Agency reported 5,922 new infections and five deaths on Friday, increasing the cumulative totals to 477,211 cases and 4,500 deaths.
A total of 23,043 tests were reported on Friday, and the seven-day average positivity rate was 25.8%, up from 25.4% on Thursday.
The agency does not report updated coronavirus statistics on weekends.
Meanwhile, dozens of city workers began receiving early layoff notices Thursday for failure to comply with the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees. City officials reported that the notifications were sent to 86 employees, far fewer than the more than 900 letters sent that provide some options in December.
A city spokesperson reported this week that 85% of its roughly 11,300 employees were fully vaccinated, 9,695 in total with 1,095 requesting a religious or medical exemption.
City employees had until Monday to receive the vaccine or select from a list of other options, such as applying for a religious or medical exemption, taking unpaid leave, resigning or retiring.
Those who chose none of the above options received termination notices and could face a hearing with “all due process rights and rights of representation.”
However, employees who are fully vaccinated before receiving the final termination notice will not be fired, city officials said.
UC San Diego announced Thursday that its remote instruction period would be extended through January due to an increase in new COVID cases. UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said the spread of the Omicron variant has led to staff shortages and impacts on student attendance, prompting the university to delay a return to in-person instruction until January 31. .
Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a $ 2.7 billion COVID-19 emergency response package on Saturday as part of his upcoming budget proposal, including a $ 1.4 billion emergency appropriation request to bolster testing capacity, accelerate delivery. Vaccination and booster efforts, support frontline workers, strengthen the health care system and “combat misinformation.”
On Friday, Newsom announced the activation of the California National Guard to help provide additional testing facilities and capacity amid the national surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant.
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