Tuari Bigknife, chief legal officer for Viejas Enterprises, labeled the case numbers attributed to its casino as “erroneous.” Mike Damron Crowds line up at Viejas Casino & Resort on the casino's first day of reopening amid the coronavirus pandemic, May 18, 2020. And being the site of an outbreak doesn’t necessarily mean the business has unsafe practices. However, it is important to note that just because someone may have visited a location with an outbreak, it doesn’t necessarily mean they were exposed to the virus at that location. The county defines a community outbreak as three or more people with COVID-19, who aren’t close contacts, being in a specific place over the same 14-day period. KPBS and other news outlets sued for the records in San Diego County Superior Court but lost.

And for months, they’ve refused to release detailed information on community outbreaks, arguing that businesses and organizations wouldn’t report them if they knew they would be public. RELATED: County Vows To Fight Plans By Casinos To Reopen Next weekĬounty officials rejected interview requests on KPBS' findings.

KPBS is releasing the outbreak locations because transparency and public health information is vital for our community. And being the site of an outbreak doesn't necessarily mean the businesses had unsafe practices.ĬOVID-19 is a virus that spreads easily without fear or favor. It's possible none of them caught the virus at the outbreak location.

By the county’s definition, an outbreak occurs when three or more people with COVID-19, who aren't close contacts, were known to be in a specific location during the same 14-day period. And it doesn't mean you can catch COVID-19 by going there now. When viewing these records it is important to keep in mind that just because you visited a place that had an outbreak doesn’t necessarily mean you were exposed to the virus.

Editor’s note: This interactive map and searchable database contains records obtained by KPBS of COVID-19 community outbreaks in San Diego County.

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