County health officials on Tuesday reported 267 new COVID-19 cases and six additional deaths Tuesday, raising the region's totals to 38,871 cases and 688 deaths.
Four women and two men died, and their ages ranged from the late 40s to the late 80s. All had underlying medical conditions.
Of 6,986 tests reported Tuesday, 4% returned positive, raising the county's 14-day rolling positive testing rate to 3.7%, well below the state's 8% guideline. The seven-day average number of tests performed in the county is 6,751.
Of the total positive cases in the county, 3,125 — or 8% — have required hospitalization since the pandemic began, and 755 — or 1.9% — were admitted to an intensive care unit.
County health officials reported one new community outbreak Tuesday, bringing the number of outbreaks in the past week to 16. The outbreak was in a restaurant/bar setting.
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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.
Tuesday marks two weeks since San Diego County was removed from the state's COVID-19 watch list and nearly three weeks that the county's case rate has remained under 100 cases per 100,000 people.
Remaining below that metric has paved the way for K-12 schools to reopen for in-person teaching, but many districts are expected to take a cautious approach to reopening.
Schools that choose to reopen must follow state guidance, including mandatory face coverings for students in third grade through high school, increased cleaning and disinfecting practices and implementing a six-foot distance requirement, where possible, in classrooms and non-classroom spaces.
