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KPBS Evening Edition

San Diego County Approaches 40,000 COVID-19 Cases, Crosses 700 Deaths

A man with a stroller on Aug. 1, 2020, walks by a Balboa Park health and safety guidelines sign design to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Alexander Nguyen
A man with a stroller on Aug. 1, 2020, walks by a Balboa Park health and safety guidelines sign design to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.

San Diego County public health officials reported 453 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death from the illness Friday, raising the county's cumulative totals to 39,899 cases and 701 fatalities.

One woman in her late 60s died. She had an underlying medical condition.

The number of new cases is the most since 551 were reported Aug. 7, with the vast majority of the new infections confirmed to have started on days before businesses reopened this week.

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"This news is a reminder that we all have a role in keeping the infection rate down," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health officer. "I'm asking San Diegans to take a look at their individual actions and, if necessary, adjust their behaviors to help ensure we remain safe and moving in the right direction."

Of 7,554 tests reported Friday, 6% returned positive, raising the county's 14-day rolling positive testing rate to 4%, well below the state's 8% guideline. The seven-day average number of tests performed in the county is 7,009.

Of the total positive cases in the county, 3,194 -- or 8% -- have required hospitalization since the pandemic began, and 768 -- or 1.9% -- were admitted to an intensive care unit.

County health officials reported six new community outbreaks Friday, bringing the number of outbreaks in the past week to 22. Two of the outbreaks were in grocery stores, one in a restaurant, one in a business, one in a hotel/resort/spa and one in a hair salon/barbershop.

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.