Coronavirus: 12 More San Diego County Residents Die, Total At 31

SAN DIEGO, CA — San Diego County health officials announced on Tuesday that 12 more county residents have died from coronavirus over the past 24 hours, marking the largest daily increase in COVID-19-related deaths to date. Officials announced during the county’s daily media briefing that 31 county residents have died and that 1,454 people have tested positive in the county. Of those total cases, 50 new confirmed cases were reported on Tuesday.

Dr. Wilma Wooten, San Diego County’s Public Health Officer, announced that of the 31 deaths, 61 percent are male and 39 percent are female while of the county’s 1,454 confirmed cases, 54 percent are between the ages of 20-49. In California, 16,429 people have tested positive and 397 people have died.

Wooten said Tuesday that the increased number in deaths should be “no cause for alarm” as reported deaths often lag behind the number of reported confirmed cases. In San Diego County, 289 (19.9 percent) have been hospitalized and statistics show that 201 people have recovered. Wooten said that most of the deaths involved people who had underlying medical conditions.

“Our sincerest sympathies and condolences go out to the families and friends of those individuals we have reported have lost their lives to COVID-19,” Wooten said Tuesday.

According to Nathan Fletcher, the county supervisor, local health officials expect to see the number of both cases, hospitalizations and deaths to continue to rise as the month of April progresses. For that reason, Fletcher said county officials will continue to stress the need for local residents to remain at home under Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order and that residents need to cover their faces if they choose to go out.

While San Diego County is faring better than other regions and parts of the United States, where 12,285 people have died from the virus, Fletcher said local residents need to remain vigilant of the actions they take.

“This really is a stark reminder of the challenges we face, the difficult road that lies ahead and the importance of the actions that we take each and every day,” Fletcher said. “We are fighting for every single life and this fight will continue all the way through this crisis.”

Fletcher added: “We will get through this as a region and we will come through, but it is a reminder of the challenges we are going to face as we go through them together.”