COVID spreading quickly in San Diego County

According to the latest public health update, San Diego County’s seven-day test positivity rate hit 20.5 percent last week, technically the second-highest number recorded since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and a sure sign that coronavirus is hitting the community hard this summer.

San Diego County, it seems, is running a little hotter than the state and nation in this leading indicator of viral activity.

The region’s latest test positivity results are one week more recent than comparable numbers for the state and nation. But looking back to two weeks ago, San Diego County’s rate was 19.3 percent, compared to the state rate of 13.8 percent and the nationwide rate of 14.3 percent.

San Diego County’s highest-reported weekly test positivity rate was 29 percent on Jan. 8, 2021, though the advent of widespread home testing in 2022 skews such a comparison.

Unreported home test results, both positive and negative, mean that today’s true rate is very likely higher or lower than 20.5 percent.

Local wastewater results, updated Thursday afternoon, show elevated levels of coronavirus genetic materi...