San Diego County public health officials have reported 73 new COVID-19 cases and two new deaths, as hospitalizations from the virus rose back into the triple digits.
On Tuesday, hospitalizations from the virus dropped into the double digits for the first time since April 1, 2020. On Wednesday, reported hospitalizations increased from 98 to 107.
There are 45 available, staffed ICU beds in the county.
Wednesday's data bring the county's case total to 279,858, while the death toll reached 3,755.
The two new deaths were men who died on Monday. One was in his 60s and one was in his 50s. Both had underlying conditions.
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Of 12,296 tests reported Wednesday to the county's Health and Human Services Agency, 0.6% returned positive. The 14-day rolling average is 1%.
As of Wednesday, 53% of county residents 12 and older have been fully vaccinated.
The county's goal is to fully vaccinate 75% of the population, or 2,101,936 people.
Over 1.48 million San Diego County residents are fully inoculated with either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, officials report.
A total of 1,910,659 San Diego County residents have received at least one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 90.5% of that goal.
More than 4.06 million doses have been received by the county, with over 3.57 million administered.
The county reported receiving 252,610 vaccines last week. A full list of available vaccination sites can be found online.
San Diego County remains in the orange tier of the state's color-coded reopening plan, with an adjusted case rate of 2.4 new cases per 100,000 people.
To land in the yellow tier, the least restrictive, the county would need to report an average of fewer than two new cases per 100,000 for two consecutive weeks.
That is unlikely to happen before the state lifts most COVID-19- related limitations, expected on June 15.
Both the testing positivity percentage and health equity metric — a measure of a county's most vulnerable quartile — are low enough for San Diego County to fall in the yellow in those categories, with 1.5% and 1.8% respectively. Counties are sorted into their worst-performing tier.
