San Diego County is continuing to see an increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. County health officials reported Wednesday the majority of new cases are among unvaccinated individuals.
“This is turning into the pandemic of the unvaccinated, so I want to thank San Diegans for responding to our call to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Wilma Wooten, County public health officer. “The more contagious Delta variant is on the rise and being fully vaccinated affords the best protection against the disease.”
In the last 30 days, the county reported 11,391 people had tested positive for COVID-19. Of those, close to 90%, or 10,234 were not vaccinated and 10%, or 1,157 people, were vaccinated.
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San Diego County's case rate is at 13.4 cases per 100,000 residents as of July 27. On June 15, California's color-coded reopening blueprint was retired and most of the levied restrictions associated with the colored tiers have gone away. If we'd still be in the state's color tier system, we'd be considered far into the purple tier.
The county says nearly all hospitalizations are from people who are unvaccinated citing 98% percent of hospitalizations in the last 30 days are in people who are not vaccinated or have not completed the full series of the two-dose vaccine.
The county is continuing to push for San Diegans to get vaccinated and said 70% of residents 12 and older are now fully vaccinated and more than 81% of county residents have received at least one shot.
San Diego County is currently following the latest guidance from the CDC in recommending the universal wearing of masks by both vaccinated and unvaccinated people in indoor public settings.
"The rate of COVID-19 cases in San Diego County is rated 'high' by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," county officials said in a statement. "New research reveals the delta variant is much more transmissible and expected to lead to a growing number of cases in vaccinated individuals while primarily striking the unvaccinated."
As of early July, more than 140,000 San Diegans were overdue in receiving their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
San Diego County is now releasing its COVID case data weekly, not daily.
