San Diego County Health Officials Report 42 New COVID-19 Cases, 4 Deaths

San Diego CA

03 June, 2021

4:47 PM

Description

By Elizabeth Ireland, Times of San Diego June 3, 2021 County public health officials reported 42 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths on Wednesday, increasing the cumulative totals to 280,346 cases and 3,760 deaths. Three men in their 60s with underlying medical conditions died on May 29 and one man in his 30s with no existing medical conditions died May 31. Of 6,305 tests reported Wednesday, 0.7% returned positive and the two-week rolling average remains 0.7%. San Diego County's latest state-reported COVID-19 numbers dipped low enough to set the region on a path to lift some restrictions as soon as Wednesday — if the numbers remain below a certain threshold. The county remains in the orange tier of the state's four-tiered, color-coded reopening plan. On Tuesday, the state reported the county's adjusted case rate was 1.7 new daily cases per 100,000 population — low enough to qualify for the yellow tier, the state's least restrictive. That is an improvement from last week's 2.4 new cases per 100,000. The county's testing positivity rate is 1.3% and the health equity quartile positivity rate — the rate a county's most vulnerable quarter of people are testing positive for the virus — is 1.5%, both low enough to be in the yellow tier. Those rates have dropped from 1.5% and 1.8% from last week. However, to land in the yellow tier next Tuesday, the county would need to report an average of fewer than two new cases per 100,000 for another week. If that were to happen, less than a week before the state plans to lift most COVID-19-related limitations on June 15, no matter where the counties fall in those above metrics at the time, several businesses and venues would be able to increase capacity. Outdoor music venues can increase to 67% capacity, restaurants and gyms can be 50% capacity — indoor and outdoor — indoor bars can be 25% or 100 people, whichever is fewer, and outdoor gatherings can expand to 200 people. A full list of what will be open should the county descend into the yellow tier for that one week can be found at www.covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy. — City News Service contributed to this report 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.