City News Service

San Diego County public health officials Thursday reported 1,400 new COVID-19 cases, five deaths and 104 new hospitalizations — discouraging news as the Delta variant continues to surge.

Drug use was at a 21-year high for adult males arrested and booked into local detention facilities in 2020, with methamphetamine and fentanyl posing some worrying trends, according to a San Diego Association of Governments report released Thursday.

In a study published Thursday, a team led by researchers at UC San Diego have discovered how glycans act as infection gateways for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, which may be a key to countering the virus.

San Diego County residents with moderately to severely compromised immune systems can get a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine to fight waning immunity, it was announced Wednesday, as federal health officials recommended all vaccinated Americans get the booster shots.

Facial coverings will be required again at county courthouses regardless of vaccination status due to a reported county-wide increase in COVID-19 transmission, San Diego Superior Court officials announced Wednesday.

The boat's captain, Victor Alfonso Soto Aguilar, and another man who acted as a refueler — Jose Ramon Geraldo Romero — told authorities that they agreed to pilot the vessel in lieu of paying smuggling fees to enter the United States, according to the complaint filed against them earlier this year.

California has been battered by 10 previous atmospheric rivers this winter.

The latest in-custody death comes on the heels of news that a sheriff’s deputy was arrested for allegedly having illegal drugs on county jail property.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a statement in response to Southwest's cancellations, noting that the department will be looking into the situation.