96 Deaths, 2,491 Confirmed Coronavirus Cases In San Diego County

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA — Nine more people have died as the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus near 2,500 in San Diego County.

Officials also reported 57 new cases of COVID-19 Wednesday, bringing the region's totals to 2,491 cases and 96 deaths.

The latest victims were six men and three women between 38 to 99 years old. All of them had underlying medical conditions, said Dr. Eric McDonald, the county's medical director of epidemiology.

"Unfortunately, San Diegans are still dying from complications of COVID-19," McDonald said. "It is imperative that people continue to stay at home to keep the virus from spreading, especially to people at high risk of developing complications from the disease."

The county has reported 24 deaths from the disease over a two-day period — the deadliest two-day stretch since the coronavirus crisis hit the county.

McDonald said the seeming uptick in deaths may not indicate much about the direction the pandemic is taking regionally. Calling deaths a "lagging indicator," he noted that physicians have eight days to file death certificates. The nine deaths reported Wednesday occurred over a four-day period from last Friday through Monday.

Deaths are not being used as an indicator to make decisions such as when to loosen or lift public health orders, McDonald said.

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The number of patients who have been hospitalized due to coronavirus complications increased to 611 on Wednesday, with 206 in intensive care.

Nearly 36,500 tests have been conducted in the county, with a positive test rate of around 6.8 percent. An estimated 1,434 people have recovered from COVID-19.

Of all positive-testing coronavirus cases, 24.5 percent of the patients have been hospitalized and 8.3 percent sent to intensive care. Nearly 4 percent of COVID-19 patients have died, a rate higher than most jurisdictions are reporting.

"This is one of several indicators that there are undiagnosed cases in our community," McDonald said.

Also see:

• California Coronavirus: Latest Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures
• Coronavirus In San Diego County: Latest News
• San Diego Residents Urged To 'Stay The Course' Following Protests
• 7 More Deaths As Coronavirus Cases Surpass 2,000 In San Diego
• Coronavirus Cases Surpass 1,000 Milestone In San Diego County
• Face Coverings Urged As Coronavirus Cases Rise In San Diego
• San Diego Authorities To Crack Down On Stay-At-Home Violators

City News Service and Patch editor Kristina Houck contributed to this report.