San Diego County failed Tuesday to join Los Angeles and San Francisco counties in advancing to the least-restrictive tier of the state's color-coded Blueprint For a Safer Economy.
San Diego County has an adjusted case rate of five new daily cases per 100,000 population to remain in the orange tier. The yellow tier is fewer than two cases.
The county's positivity rate over the past seven days is 2.2% and needs to be below 2% to advance. Counties are sorted into tiers by their worst-performing metric.
County supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved a request for the federal government to ensure that any person released from immigration custody is tested for COVID-19, followed by treatment if needed.
Meeting virtually, the Board of Supervisors took action after receiving an update on county efforts to combat the pandemic. Supervisor Jim Desmond suggested the county send a formal letter to the Biden administration and immigration agencies.
Because some immigrants may enter the United States without legal permission, Desmond said he was concerned federal agencies may not be testing them for the coronavirus.
The board also unanimously approved extending the deferral period for those renting county-owned commercial or residential properties, but can't afford to pay. The repayment period will begin Jan. 1.
County health officials reported 186 new COVID-19 cases and one death Tuesday, increasing the cumulative totals to 276,878 cases and 3,713 deaths.
Hospitalizations among people diagnosed with COVID-19 increased by 18 from Monday's figures to 156 people. Of those, 42 are in intensive care units, two from Monday's report. There are 59 staffed, available ICU beds in the county.
A total of 3,086,545 doses of coronavirus vaccines have arrived in the county, with 2,847,132 administered.
A total of 1,508,825 people have received one dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, 74.8% toward reaching the county's goal of vaccinating 75% of San Diego County residents 16 and older, or 2,017,011 people.
A total of 1,096,519 — or 54.4% of the county's goal — of the 16 or older age cohort are fully inoculated with either two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Dr. Wilma Wooten, the county's public health officer, told supervisors Tuesday that 83% of county residents 65 or older have gotten at least one dose of the vaccine.
Of 6,424 tests reported Tuesday, 3% returned positive. The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases is 1.5%.
