Three More Unlinked HK Variant COVID Cases In San Diego Co California

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The three additional cases confirmed Thursday were all men. Case investigators have interviewed two of the three who reported no recent travel outside the country. Two of the three new cases were in their 40s and the third was in his 50s. The third case for whom travel information was not available had not yet been interviewed.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/health/story/2020-12-31/san-diego-county-ends-2020-with-largest-single-day-covid-19-death-total-of-the-year

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Three more UK strain cases confirmed

By PAUL SISSON

DEC. 31, 2020

6:05 PM

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A waning 2020 delivered a final kick on the way out Thursday with the county health department announcing 62 additional COVID-19 deaths, a new single-day record arriving on New Year’s Eve.

And there was an extra reason for concern. The county public health lab, working with local researchers, confirmed three more cases of the United Kingdom coronavirus strain Thursday, bringing the total to four, including the initial case involving a man in his 30s announced Wednesday.

Officials said none of the four are related and had no contact with each other before testing positive.

The three additional cases confirmed Thursday were all men. Case investigators have interviewed two of the three who reported no recent travel outside the country. Two of the three new cases were in their 40s and the third was in his 50s. The third case for whom travel information was not available had not yet been interviewed.

They live in La Mesa, Otay Mesa, Mission Beach and the Rancho Bernardo-Carmel Mountain area.

The county public health lab was still awaiting the results of genetic testing to confirm whether a close contact of Wednesday’s first UK strain subject, who was said to have been experiencing symptoms of coronavirus infection, also has the UK strain.

Dr. Eric McDonald, medical director of the county’s epidemiology department, said Thursday evening that the subject, a woman also in her 30s who is the spouse of Wednesday’s UK case, has been admitted to a hospital after testing positive for coronavirus. Genetic testing being performed by Scripps Research will be necessary to confirm that the UK strain was involved, but that seems very likely at this point.

 

 

“I would be shocked if it doesn’t come back with whole-genome sequencing that confirms it,” McDonald said.

He said the three additional UK cases confirmed through genetic testing Thursday were actually tested between Dec. 20 and Dec. 22. Helix, a local company that the county contracts with for testing, looked through its records after the first case appeared and discovered the results as having the telltale “s drop” signature that marked Wednesday’s case.

Having cases from different parts of the county that did not know each other, he said, shows that this strain, which is thought to spread more easily than other variants, has been among us for some time.

“This didn’t just spread to that many different parts of the county among people who don’t know each other in the past two weeks,” McDonald said. “The dispersal of these cases geographically tells you that it has probably been in the county for a longer period of time.”

With 99 deaths announced in just the past two days, December is by far the deadliest month of the pandemic. According to county records, 488 deaths have been recorded in December, more than twice the previous monthly record of 197 tallied in July.

The most recent deaths announced Thursday range in age from 45 to 100 with three in their 40s. As is always the case, the deaths announced on any given day did not all occur the day before the announcement. It can take days or weeks for death certificates and causes of death to be finalized before they are reported to the public.

Taking the latest group into account, records show that a total of 28 deaths occurred on Dec. 22, tying Dec. 18 for the deadliest day of the pandemic.

McDonald said he reviews each and every death certificate before the county releases new numbers. Seeing so many in December, he said, has been particularly harrowing.

“Every one of those is a person and has a family,” McDonald said. “What this means is that there are more and more San Diego families that are coming to grips with the fact that this is a real and deadly pandemic.”

Deaths are what epidemiologists call a “lagging indicator,” generally occurring weeks or months after infections take hold. As such, a spike in deaths does not, in and of itself, say all that much about how a pathogen such as the novel coronavirus is spreading in a community. The number of new positive cases coming in daily provides a more immediate sense of the current pace of infection.

The final COVID-19 report of 2020 lists 3,083 new cases, once again jumping over the 3,000 mark after three straight days below that mark. The result could signal the arrival of a new wave of cases connected to Christmas celebrations, given that the average incubation period for the virus — the amount of time spent in the body before symptoms generally begin to appear — is about 6 days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Pressure continues to mount on local hospitals with 1,580 total COVID-19 patients in beds across the county Wednesday. COVID-positive patients occupied 35 percent of the 4,504 total beds in use. Intensive care admissions held steady at 621 with 386 having a COVID-19 diagnosis and 235 without.

 

 

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Interactive map of San Diego County COVID cases

https://sdcounty.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/e09887e8e65d4fda847aa04c480dc73f

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County Reports Record-High Deaths as More Local Cases of New COVID-19 Strain Are Confirmed

Credit: Shutterstock

By Katie Cadiao, County of San Diego Communications OfficeDec. 31, 2020 | 5:15 PM

 

The County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency is reporting a record-high number of new COVID-19 deaths. The 62 deaths reported today well surpass the previous single-day record of 39 deaths reported on Dec. 22.

Meanwhile, whole genome sequencing has detected three new cases of the United Kingdom variant of COVID-19, also known as B.1.1.7., beyond yesterday’s report.

The three newly-confirmed variant cases reported today were initially identified by Helix during diagnostic testing, then confirmed by whole genome sequencing by Scripps Research.

The new cases of the UK strain were found in men, two in their 40s and one in his 50s. Contact tracing shows two men did not travel outside of the county while the third case has yet to be fully interviewed. None of the men had any known interaction with each other or the other confirmed case.

A household contact of the first local B.1.1.7. strain case reported yesterday has been hospitalized for COVID-19, with whole genome sequencing pending.

The discovery of the additional cases leads County Health Officials to believe that the new strain of the virus is widespread in the community. The four individuals who have tested positive for the B.1.1.7. strain live in La Mesa, Mission Beach, Otay Mesa and the Carmel Mountain/Rancho Bernardo area.

“We believe that many more cases of the B. 1.1.7. strain will be confirmed in the coming days and weeks,” said Eric McDonald, M.D., M.P.H., medical director of the County Epidemiology and Immunizations Services branch. “This strain of the virus has been reported to be spread more easily in the UK and so it is therefore crucial that now, more than ever before in this pandemic, we follow the public health orders and keep each other safe.”

In light of the high case numbers and new strain being detected in the region, County health officials urge San Diegans to:

• Wash your hands
• Wear a mask
• Keep your distance from others and leave your household only for essential activities
• If you’re sick, get tested, and then stay home and isolate yourself

ICU Capacity and Stay Home Order:

• The current intensive care unit (ICU) bed availability for the Southern California region is now 0.0% and will be updated by the state daily.
• The Regional Stay Home Order is in effect and prohibits gatherings of any size with people from other households and adds restrictions for multiple sectors.
• The order will last until the region’s ICU availability meets or exceeds 15%.

Community Setting Outbreaks:

• 12 new community outbreaks were confirmed on Dec. 30: Three in healthcare settings, two in business settings, two in emergency services settings, two in faith-based agency settings, one in a food/beverage processing setting, one in a TK-12 school setting and one in a daycare/preschool/childcare setting.
• In the past seven days (Dec. 24 through Dec. 30), 59 community outbreaks were confirmed.
• The number of community outbreaks remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
• A community setting outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households over the past 14 days.

Testing:

• 28,183 tests were reported to the County on Dec. 30, and the percentage of new laboratory-confirmed cases was 11%.
• The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases is 11%. Target is less than 8.0%.
• The 7-day, daily average of tests is 21,379.
• People at higher risk for COVID-19 who are with or without symptoms should be tested. People with any symptoms should get tested. Healthcare and essential workers should also get a test, as well as people who have had close contact to a positive case or live in communities that are being highly impacted. Those recently returned from travel, or who participated in holiday gatherings, are also urged to get tested.

Cases:

• 3,083 new cases were reported to the County on Dec. 30. The region’s total is now 155,595.
• 5,869 or 3.8% of all cases have required hospitalization.
• 1,216 or 0.8% of all cases and 20.7% of hospitalized cases had to be admitted to an intensive care unit.

Deaths:

• 62 new COVID-19 deaths were reported to the County on Dec. 30. The region’s total is now 1,534.
• 26 women and 36 men died between Dec. 15 and Dec. 30, and their ages ranged from mid- 40s to early 100s.
• A total of 59 had underlying medical conditions, one did not have medical conditions and two have medical history pending.

More Information:

The more detailed data summaries found on the County’s coronavirus-sd.com website are updated around 5 p.m. daily.

https://www.countynewscenter.com/county-reports-record-high-deaths-as-more-local-cases-of-new-covid-19-strain-are-confirmed/