San Diego County health officials Thursday reported four additional deaths and 152 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, marking the largest single-day increase in positive cases since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The total number of COVID-19 cases now stands at 2,643 and the death count has reached 100. The previous highest case increase was April 2, when 146 new cases were reported. Tuesday marked the biggest increase in the death count, with 15 reported fatalities.
The latest deaths involved two women and two men, ranging in age from their mid-60s to late 70s, and all had underlying health issues, said Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer.
Dr. Eric McDonald, the county's epidemiology director, said Wednesday the uptick in deaths this week may not reflect the direction the pandemic is taking locally. Calling deaths a "lagging indicator," he noted that physicians have eight days to file death certificates and nine deaths reported Wednesday occurred over a four-day period from last Friday through Monday.
Deaths are not being used as an indicator to make decisions such as when to loosen or lift public health orders, McDonald said.
The county reported 28 deaths from the respiratory illness over the three-day period ending Thursday, the deadliest three-day stretch since the coronavirus outbreak began. The number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations rose to 624 on Thursday, and the number of patients being treated in intensive care units climbed to 213, representing increases of 23 and seven, respectively, from Wednesday.
Of the 100 people who have died of the disease, 53 were white, 30 were Latino and nine were Asian.
Officials also announced that San Diego County received $334 million in CARES Act funding on Thursday. Supervisor Nathan Fletcher said the federal money, designated for COVID-19 emergency response, will be doled out in the coming weeks per federal guidelines.
Fletcher said increased testing numbers were also a good sign, as it helps more accurately trace cases of the novel coronavirus, while noting that a side-effect of accurate testing would be an increase in reported cases.
