SD County Sees Decrease In Hospitalizations, 2nd Omicron Case

SAN DIEGO, CA — The number of coronavirus patients in San Diego County hospitals decreased by eight people to 325, according to the latest state figures released Sunday. Of those patients, 90 were in intensive care as of Sunday, two more than Saturday.

Those numbers come two days after local health officials announced that a man in his 30s was believed to have contracted the Omicron COVID-19 variant locally. The patient tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency announced, making it the second documented case of the variant in the county.

The San Diego Epidemiology and Research for COVID Health Alliance determined it was the Omicron variant through whole genome sequencing late Thursday. The case was detected through the Expedited COVID Identification Environment lab at UC San Diego.

According to the HHSA, the San Diego County resident did not have a travel history, had mild symptoms which have resolved and did not need to be hospitalized. The man, who was fully vaccinated and had received his booster shot more than two weeks earlier, is currently at home in isolation.

"This case confirms our expectation that the Omicron variant is now spreading in the community," said Dr. Wilma Wooten, county public health officer. "While the Delta variant remains the main strain circulating in San Diego, we expect to see more Omicron cases in the region."

The county reported 932 new COVID-19 infections and four deaths Friday, increasing its cumulative totals to 392,502 cases and 4,378 deaths since the pandemic began.

The county does not report case or death numbers on weekends.

A total of 528,256 San Diego County residents have received COVID-19 booster shots and all county vaccination sites have Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccinations available.

County officials recommend making an appointment before visiting a vaccination site to avoid having to wait. Walk-ins are being accommodated daily until capacity is reached.

San Diego County's case rate per 100,000 residents is 14.2 overall, 8.3 for fully vaccinated people and 24.8 for not fully vaccinated San Diegans.

A total of 26,230 new tests were reported to the county on Thursday. A total of 4.1% of all tests returned positive over the past week.

More than 2.69 million San Diego County residents have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine, 85.5% of residents age 5 and older.

More than 2.39 million people, or 75.9% of residents 5 and older, are fully vaccinated.

—City News Service