SAN DIEGO (CNS) - San Diego County's Health and Human Services Agency reported 659 new COVID-19 infections and 14 additional deaths Wednesday, bringing the cumulative death toll to 5,002.
Of the 5,002 San Diegans who have died since the first local case of the virus was identified in the region in March 2020, 60% were male and 40% were female.
There have been 734,656 infections in San Diego County since the pandemic began.
The number of San Diego County patients hospitalized with COVID-19 continued to fall, decreasing to 562 Wednesday -- down from 574 on Tuesday -- according to the latest state data. The number of those patients in intensive care decreased by six to 109. Available ICU beds increased by five to 211.
An average of 17,995 COVID-19 tests were recorded each day for the past week. Of those, 6.5% returned positive -- down from 9.9% on Friday.
A total of 1,151,574 -- or 54.3% -- of San Diego County residents who are fully vaccinated have received a booster shot, according to the HHSA.
More than 2.9 million -- or 92.6% -- of San Diego County residents age 5 and older are at least partially vaccinated and more than 2.56 million, or 81.4%, are fully vaccinated.