COVID-19 Cases Up 82% In 1 Week In San Diego County

San Diego CA

22 July, 2021

11:43 AM

Description

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — The number of COVID-19 cases has significantly increased in the past week in San Diego County, prompting public health officials to urge residents to continue to get vaccinated. A total of 3,465 COVID-19 cases were reported in the past seven days in the county, officials said Wednesday. That's 1,566 more cases — up 82 percent — than the previous seven-day period. The rise in cases and hospitalizations is happening primarily in residents who are not vaccinated, according to the county. These individuals are also being disproportionately impacted by the Alpha, Gamma and Delta COVID-19 variants. "The best protection we have against COVID-19 is getting vaccinated," said Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer. "The vaccines are extremely effective at preventing serious illness from COVID-19. If you have not gotten immunized, do it now." There has also been a "very slight increase in post-vaccination infections," which means individuals got infected with COVID-19 even though they were fully vaccinated, according to the county. Wooten said that these people typically have mild symptoms. "This does not mean the vaccine is not working," Wooten said. "Quite the opposite, the vaccine is doing what it's supposed to do: keep most people from being hospitalized, or worse, dying." As of Wednesday, there have been 288,681 total COVID-19 cases and 3,787 total deaths in the county. Almost 2.25 million or 80.2 percent of residents 12 and older are partially vaccinated, according to the county. More than 1.94 million or 69.2 percent of residents have been fully vaccinated.