15 San Diegans Have Died from COVID-19; Cases Reach 849
A total of 15 COVID-19 deaths have now been reported in the region, the County Health and Human Services Agency announced today.
The new deaths are:
- A woman in her late 90s
- A man in his early 80s
- A man in his mid-70s
- Two men in their early 70s
- A probable death announced yesterday has now been confirmed to have been COVID-19
“COVID-19 deaths are very unfortunate, but they are occurring. Our hearts and prayers to all of their loved ones. We are very sorry for your loss,” said Nick Yphantides, M.D., M.P.H., County chief medical officer. “We must keep our physical distance to avoid contracting the virus and passing it to those who are at higher risk of severe complications from the virus, including death.”
County COVID-19 Cases Reach 849
Through April 1, a total of 849 COVID-19 cases have been reported in San Diego County, including 115 new cases in the last day.
Going forward, the County will be reporting case updates during the daily media briefing and then publishing them on the County’s COVID-19 website later in the afternoon.
Of San Diego County’s cases, 54% (461) were men and 43% (380) were women. The gender of 1% (4) is unknown. Of the known cases, 158 (19%) have required hospitalization, 65 (8%) had to be placed in intensive care and 15 (1.8%) have died.
County officials also talked about other measures and resources to deal with COVID-19. To date:
- More than 11,300 San Diegans have been tested, including 989 tests reported on March 31.
- The County has distributed nearly 1.2 million personal protective equipment items to local health care providers, including nearly 499,000 N-95 respirators and about 550,000 gloves.
- A total of 2,026 hotel rooms have been secured to isolate people who have potential COVID-19 symptoms and people who are vulnerable and have no place to live.
- Of the 1,585 rooms for County Public Health Services use, 102 are occupied by 111 guests. Those rooms include three homeless individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19.
- Of the 441 rooms assigned to the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, 183 are being occupied by 306 people who are at higher risk of developing complications from COVID-19.
Donations of Personal Protective Equipment
The County, Rady Children’s Health System and Rock Church have partnered to collect, track and distribute donated critical-need medical equipment during the coronavirus pandemic to support care providers across the region.
People and companies who would like to donate unused personal protective equipment and other needed items can contact Rady Children’s Foundation via email DonateCOVID19@rchsd.org or at 1-800-258-0007. See more details about the program and types of equipment needed.
Rady Children’s Health System will collect information from the potential donor and log it into a database. Once the donation is logged, the Foundation will provide the donor with an appropriate drop-off location based on the donor’s preference or shipping information, if needed.
Rock Church has created locations have where equipment can be dropped off. The volunteers at Rock Church drop-off locations will log items received and will use their fleet of vans to transport donations to the County Medical Warehouse.
Convention Center Becomes Emergency Shelter
Today, the City and County of San Diego began moving people who are homeless into the Convention Center, which will now serve as an emergency shelter.
The goal is to slow the spread of COVID-19 among people who are homeless by placing them in a facility that allows for appropriate physical distancing between people at the shelter.
Yesterday, the County announced three unsheltered people tested positive for COVID-19. The three people are in isolation at motel rooms secured by the County.
People at the Convention Center will be monitored by County public health nurses for symptoms of COVID-19. They will also receive support from County Behavioral Health Services.
The City’s bridge shelters will now become locations where people who are unsheltered can receive health screenings and other services.
The County’s COVID-19 webpage now contains a graph showing new positive cases and total cases reported by date. For more information, visit www.coronavirus-sd.com.