Dr Mona Hacker: Latest ways doctors are combating COVID-19

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – San Diego County public health officials Monday announced 453 new COVID-19 infections, raising the total number of cases to 24,135, but no new deaths were reported.

Monday’s number marked the fewest new cases since July 15, when there were 409, in what was the worst week since the start of the pandemic. Between July 13-19, the county also reported the most hospitalizations — 163 — and the most deaths — 56 — in any one-week span since COVID-19 began spreading in the U.S. in March.

While no new community outbreaks were identified Monday, in the past seven days there have been 16. The number of community outbreaks — defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households — remains more than double the trigger of seven or more in seven days.

A total of 107 community outbreaks have been reported since the pandemic began, with 33 in June and 47 so far this month.

Of the total positive cases, 2,215 — or 9.2% — have been hospitalized and 575 — or 2.4% — have been admitted to an intensive care unit. As of Monday, 482 people with COVID-19 are hospitalized, 158 of them in intensive care units.

A total of 4,440 patients are in the county’s hospitals, nearing the 80% bed occupancy of 4,902, which would raise some alarm bells as to the county’s ability to handle COVID-19 case surges.

The percentage of San Diegans testing positive dropped from 157.2 per every 100,000 people on Sunday to 145.3, but remains well above the state’s criterion of 100 per 100,000.

The last metric the county has failed to maintain is the percentage of cases that have been handled by a contact investigator within 24 hours of being reported. There are more than 500 investigators employed by the county, and although 98% of all cases had been investigated in that time frame as recently as June 25, that rate had dropped to 8% as of Monday. The county metric is to reach 71% of new cases in a day’s span.

Director at Horizon Clinical Research, Dr. Mona Hacker, joined Good Morning San Diego to discuss the latest in coronavirus statistics and possible vaccines.

Scientists at Oxford University say their experimental coronavirus vaccine has been shown in an early trial to prompt a protective immune response in hundreds of people who got the shot.

British researchers first began testing the vaccine in April in about 1,000 people, half of whom got the experimental vaccine.

Such early trials are designed to evaluate safety and see what kind of immune response was provoked, but can’t tell if the vaccine truly protects.

In research published Monday, scientists said that they found their experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people who got the shot.