This week Carlsbad Unified School District started to phase in classroom instruction for elementary school students. Encinitas Union School District started last week. San Marcos Unified School District plans to start in person classes for elementary schools Oct. 12.
Once elementary schools are up and running with their new hybrid models (some in person and some distance learning), high schools will begin to reconvene. San Marcos Unified will be the first to bring high schoolers back on campus, currently scheduled for the week of Oct. 19. San Dieguito Union High School District has decided to continue distance learning through Jan. 22. Carlsbad Unified will also continue distance learning for high schools until at least sometime in January.
It’s always been a bit of a challenge in Carlsbad to know what the school schedules are because four public school districts serve Carlsbad residents, depending on which part of Carlsbad you live in. Now with all the variations being tried out due to COVID-19, it gets a little more complicated. I’d like to thank all the superintendents (sort of like the city manager equivalent for school districts) for everything they are doing to keep parents informed in this ever-changing and challenging environment.
Even though the city is a separate government agency (not everyone realizes school districts are their separate entities with their own elected leaders), we work closely with all the schools in Carlsbad, including private schools, to ensure there is good coordination and collaboration between the city and our schools.
Testing for teachers, students and more
Starting today the county will be setting up COVID-19 testing sites in San Diego, Chula Vista, Del Mar and El Cajon for teachers and school personnel. The sites, set up in partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education, will offer testing without an appointment to maximize the number of tests administered. The California Department of Public Health recommends periodic surveillance testing for all school employees who may have contact with students or other staff.
Teachers and staff should contact their school or school district for information on where to get a test. Students in grades K-12 can get tested at the following locations:
Rady Children’s Hospital: Email covidcollaborative@rchsd.org
Kaiser Permanente: Visit www.kp.org
County of San Diego Site: Visit 211sandiego.org or call 2-1-1
Over the next two weeks, the number of county testing sites overall will increase from 29 to 41, and the number of tests available to be administered by public health nurses through the county’s lab contract with Helix will nearly double to about 30,000 weekly tests.
According to the county, COVID-19 testing continues to be primarily conducted at hospitals, with additional tests from commercial labs and community health centers. The county is working to transition the majority of its sites to those that will not require an appointment. To find a no-appointment site near you, or to make an appointment, visit www.211sandiego.org or call 2-1-1. You can view the testing sites by day here.
Latest case numbers
State metrics:
San Diego’s state-calculated, adjusted case rate is 6.7. The testing positivity percentage is 3.5%. We need to keep our case rate at 7 or under and testing positivity at 8% or less to stay in the red tier.
The California Department of Public Health will assess counties on a weekly basis, with the next report scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Community Setting Outbreaks:
14 new community outbreaks were confirmed on Sept. 29: seven in business settings, five in restaurants, one in a gym and one in a food processing setting.
In the past seven days (Sept. 23 through Sept. 29), 34 community outbreaks were confirmed.
The number of community outbreaks remains above the trigger of seven or more in seven days.
A community setting outbreak is defined as three or more COVID-19 cases in a setting and in people of different households over the past 14 days.
Testing:
10,709 tests were reported to the County on Sept. 29 and the percentage of new laboratory-confirmed cases was 2%.
The 14-day rolling average percentage of positive cases is 3%. Target is less than 8.0%.
The seven-day, daily average of tests is 9,357.
People with and without symptoms who are at higher risk for COVID-19 should be tested. Health care and essential workers should also get a test, as well as people who had close contact to a positive case or live in communities that are being highly impacted.
Cases countywide:
Sadly, seven more people have lost their lives countywide to COVID-19 since my Tuesday report for a new total of 783.
There have been 446 new cases reported countywide since my update Tuesday, for a new total of 47,180.
Carlsbad data:
Since my update last Tuesday, five more cases have been reported in Carlsbad for a total of 704. We estimate that 26 of those cases are currently active.
Playgrounds opening ahead of schedule
On Tuesday I reported that based on time needed to get all the proper signs and other precautions in place to comply with the new state guidance, we’d open playgrounds on Saturday. Well, I am happy to report that thanks to our stellar staff in the Parks & Recreation Department, we are going to be able to open a day earlier. Starting tomorrow (Friday), you can once again take the kiddos to burn off some energy and enjoy some outdoor time at our local playgrounds.
One caveat – Hidden Canyon Park recently had its playground surface replaced. Unfortunately, we’ve noticed a couple of problems that need to be fixed with the new surface. We estimate Hidden Canyon’s playground to be able to open again in a couple of weeks. We are really sorry for this inconvenience. We tried hard to get maintenance like this done while the playgrounds were closed.
Local COVID-19 survivor offers hope to others
Carlsbad resident Taylor Brune was featured earlier this week on NBC7 for sharing her personal story about COVID-19 on social media platforms to help educate and comfort others. Taylor describes how scared and alone she felt, having a hard time breathing and isolated from friends and family.
“I know that what happened, happened for a reason, and that I can share my story and be able to bring awareness so that people can really understand better and have more empathy and compassion for the people that have contracted COVID,” she said.
