San Diego County Reports 210 New COVID Infections, 2 Deaths As Case Rate Drops

San Diego CA

08 May, 2021

5:16 PM

Description

By Elizabeth Ireland, Times of San Diego May 8, 2021 San Diego County public health officials reported 210 new COVID-19 cases and two deaths Friday, as the average positive testing rate continues to drop. Of 14,864 tests reported Friday, 1% returned positive, lowering the 14-day rolling average to 1.3%, a record for 2021. Friday's data increased the county's cumulative coronavirus total to 277,533 cases and 3,718 deaths. Hospitalizations decreased to 143 from Thursday's 161, while the number of patients in intensive care units decreased from 37 Thursday to 35 in Friday's report. There are 51 available, staffed ICU beds in the county. On Friday, San Diego County announced it will partner with employers, business chambers and other groups to help host large-scale vaccination events by providing vaccines and medical personnel to administer them. Any entity capable of coordinating a large vaccination event can visit coronavirus-sd.com/vaccine, click on the "Host a Vaccination Event" button, fill out the form, and a county team member will follow up. A large event is considered to be hundreds, if not thousands of participants. The Otay Mesa Chamber of Commerce has successfully organized five events since March with key employers in that area, with the smallest event involving about 800 participants and the largest with more than 2,200. The county has received 3,546,365 doses of coronavirus vaccines — 254,960 this week alone. That is 61,000 fewer than the week previous. A total of 1,702,257 people have received one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, 84.4% of the way toward reaching the county's goal of vaccinating 75% of San Diego County residents 16 and older, or 2,017,011 people. A total of 1,208,307 — or 59.9% of the county's goal — of the 16-or-older age cohort are fully inoculated with either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine. These numbers now include the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration data, which will be updated every two weeks. — City News Service contributed to this article Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.