East County News Service

December 6, 2021 (San Diego) – The number of COVID-19 cases reported by San Diego County’s Health and Human Service Agency jumped to 1,153 on December 2^nd. That’s nearly double the numbers the prior two days, which were in the 600s.  County health officials s believe the upturn is tied to Thanksgiving gatherings and not due to the new Omicron variant, which has not yet been identified in San Diego County. The Delta variant still accounts for nearly all COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U.S..

The news comes on the heels of a National Public Radio (NPR) analysis which found death rates from COVID-19 in recent months have ranged from  three to six times higher in Republican-leaning red states than in Democratic leaning blue states – a dramatic difference likely due primarily to high vaccination rates in blue states and low vaccination rates in red states. NPR credits the high death rate in red states to misinformation on COVID and vaccines.