The Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System reported Tuesday its first known death among veterans in their system from complications with COVID-19.
There have been 54 known cases of the novel coronavirus in the San Diego VA system; 46 cases have been among veterans and one case resulted in death. The remaining 7 cases were among VA employees.
In San Diego County, there were 4,020 positive cases and 144 reported deaths as of Monday. Cases among veterans were just over 1% of the county's total.
NBC 7 learned of the death through the VA's coronavirus tracker website, which was updated for the third time on Tuesday. The website tracks COVID-19 cases around the country.
The VA said the veteran was a member of their health care system but did not die at their hospital. No additional information was disclosed.
NBC 7 first began reporting on Coronavirus cases in the San Diego VA in March when the first three cases were reported.
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By mid-March the VA San Diego put safety measures in place, screening veterans to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Veterans are also being encouraged to use digital tools like VA Video Connect to access healthcare and get access to records and Tele-Medicine to communicate to their doctors.
More than 9 million veterans are served by the VA across the country, 86,000 veterans use VA medical centers in San Diego and Imperial counties.
