Doctors, health officials urge masking up amid rise in cases

SAN DIEGO — Just in time for summer, COVID-19 cases are on the rise in San Diego as the county’s weekly update reveals the weekly average of cases has tripled in the last 30 days.

The county says in addition to cases, hospitalizations and admissions to the ICU are up as well lately. It’s because of this increase, they are reminding the public to take any preventative measures they can.

“It’s the old fashion stuff nobody wants to do anymore which is distancing, staying outside, and wearing a really high-quality mask. There’s so many cases now, people have just forgotten about that.” said Dr. Christian Ramers, chief of population health and infectious disease specialist for Family Health Centers of San Diego.

Even state health officials strongly recommend voluntary mask-wearing while out in public, especially while traveling and in crowded indoor spaces.

Due to the high levels of the virus spreading in the San Diego area, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moved the county into the medium risk level last week.

“This is a full-blown surge there’s no question about it. The official numbers are a little deceiving because they don’t pick up the thousands of people testing positive on their home tests,” said Dr. Ramers.

Summer months mean more gatherings and family vacations, so being up-to-date with the COVID-19 booster is also recommended.

Starting Friday, Alameda County in the Bay Area reinstated masks for most indoor settings. In Los Angeles, health officials have warned of a return to indoor masking if the county jumps into the high level tier, something anticipated there if cases continue at the same rate.

Locally, the South Bay Union School District brought back masks for the remainder of the school year, with others potentially doing the same for summer school.

Dr. Ramers says new Omicron subvariants are immune evasive, “which means they’re sneaking around our immunity whether we get it from vaccines or from having COVID-19 before. They’re just a little bit more dodgy and they’re able to get around our defenses even more.”