3 More Community Outbreaks Of COVID-19 Reported In San Diego – KPBS

Photo by Alexander Nguyen

Above: Man walking out of 7-Eleven in Bay Park on Aug. 1, 2020. The business, like many others in the county, is requiring customers to wear a mask before entering the premises to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

San Diego County public health officials reported 277 new COVID-19 cases and five deaths from the illness Thursday, raising the region's totals to 37,499 cases and 673 deaths.

Three women and two men died between July 28 and Aug. 26, and their ages ranged from their early 40s to their early 90s.

Of the 5,235 tests reported Thursday, 5% returned positive, raising the 14-day rolling average of positive tests to 3.7%, well below the state's 8% guideline. The seven-day average number of tests performed in the county is 6,946.

Of the total positive cases in the county, 3,040 or 8.1% have required hospitalization since the pandemic began, and 738 or 2% were admitted to an intensive care unit.

The case rate for the county remained under the state's 100 cases per 100,000 population, at 80.6 per 100,000, which means that schools are still on track to be able to open as soon as Sept. 1.

RELATED: KPBS Joining Voice Of San Diego In Suit Against County For COVID Outbreak Information

County health officials reported three new community outbreaks on Thursday, bringing the number of outbreaks in the past week to 20. Two outbreaks were reported in businesses, the third in a restaurant.

The number of community outbreaks remains well above the county's goal of fewer than seven in a seven-day span. A community setting outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households in the past 14 days.

San Diego State University announced Thursday that two more students tested positive for COVID-19 in addition to the two confirmed Wednesday.

"These two cases are unrelated to one another, and are also unrelated to the two cases confirmed yesterday, Aug. 26," the university said in a statement.

"The two students did not interact with campus, or with any SDSU employees outside of the SHS COVID-19 Test Collection Booth, and were not in any other spaces utilized by the campus community," the university said.

Fifteen SDSU students have contracted COVID-19 since March.

County health officials are still awaiting guidance from the state toward a reopening framework for businesses.

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3 More Community Outbreaks Of COVID-19 Reported In San Diego - KPBS