SEVEN MORE COVID-19 DEATHS REPORTED, CASES EXCEED 2,000

By Jose A. Alvarez, County of San Diego Communications Office

Photo:  County Microbiologist Jovan Shepherd prepares a specimen for testing of the novel coronavirus.

April 16, 2020 (San Diego) - The ages of the people who died range from 64 to 100 years. Four are men and three are women and all had underlying medical conditions.

The age, gender and race and ethnic breakdown of the local COVID-19 deaths are:

Age:

• 80 and older: 32
• 70 to 79: 15
• 60 to 69: 6
• 50 to 59: 4
• 40 to 49: 1
• 20 to 29: 2

Gender:

• 34 Men
• 26 Women

Race and Ethnicity:

• 24 White
• 17 Hispanic
• 4 Asian
• 1 Multiple races
• 14 Unknown

County COVID-19 Cases Now at 2,012

Nearly 28,000 tests have been administered to San Diegans. To date, 2,012 people have tested positive for COVID-19, including 82 new cases announced today.

Of the local cases, 1,017 (50.5%) were men and 989 (49.1%) were women. The gender of six people is unknown. Of the reported cases, 488 (24.3%) have required hospitalization and 173 (8.6%) of the total number of cases had to be placed in intensive care. Sixty (3%) have died.

Hospitals report directly to the state the number of patients who are currently hospitalized and in intensive care. The totals can be found here.

Priority Groups for COVID-19 Testing

Due to the widescale shortages of laboratory supplies and reagents, the County is following the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for testing for COVID-19. The three specific groups are:

Priority 1

• Hospitalized patients
• Healthcare facility workers with symptoms

​Priority 2

• People 65 years and older and patients in long-term care facilities with symptoms
• Patients with underlying conditions and first responders with symptoms

Priority 3

• Essential workers with symptoms
• Healthcare facility workers and first responders
• People with symptoms who are not in above categories
• People with mild symptoms in communities with high numbers of COVID-19 hospitalizations

Submit Your #StayHomeSD Sign

County officials continue to encourage San Diegans to join the #StayHomeSD campaign by staying at home, maintaining a physical distance and wearing a facial covering.

To join, submit a picture holding a sign that shows the reason why you are staying home. Your picture could be featured as one of the faces of our community in the campaign as we work together to flatten the curve and slow the spread of COVID-19.

Photo, right:  Those submitting a photo are encouraged to share it on their social media pages with the hashtags #StayHomeSD and #InThisTogetherSD.

More Case Information

The County’s COVID-19 webpage contains a graph showing new positive cases and total cases reported by date.  The data is also broken down by ethnic group. A new interactive dashboard  with several COVID-19 indicators is being updated daily. For more information, visit www.coronavirus.sd.com.  View the update from the County here.