SLO County has no new coronavirus cases for the 2nd time in 3 days
San Luis Obispo County on Monday added no new coronavirus cases for the second time in the last three days — leaving the total count of local confirmed patients at 95, according to ReadySLO.org.
County Public Health officials are encouraging patients showing even mild symptoms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, to get tested. Current data may not be showing the illness’s true impact on the county.
“As you may have seen these past few days, the number of confirmed cases in SLO County has stagnated,” ReadySLO.org reads. “We think it’s at least in part because not enough people are getting tested. We think there is more of this disease in SLO County than the numbers are showing.”
The county’s Public Health lab performed six new COVID-19 tests from Sunday to Monday, bringing the total number tests to 511. Forty-two of the positive tests have come from the Public Health lab, and 53 positive tests were conducted at private labs.
The majority of county’s COVID-19 patients — 65 people — have completely recovered from the virus.
Twenty-five patients are recovering at home, and four patients have been hospitalized — three of whom are in the intensive care unit.
One county patient has died from COVID-19.
Patients are considered to have recovered once they’ve shown no symptoms for 72 hours and it’s been at least seven days since the onset of the illness, according to Dr. Penny Borenstein, county Public Health officer. Patients who have recovered are not re-tested.
Santa Barbara County has 174 COVID-19 cases, and two patients have died of the virus, according to the county Public Health Department.
Coronavirus cases by community
Most of the county’s confirmed cases of COVID-19 — the illness caused by the new coronavirus — are still concentrated in the North County.
Paso Robles has 27 coronavirus cases, Atascadero has 19 cases, Arroyo Grande has 13 cases, San Luis Obispo has eight cases and Nipomo has five cases.
Morro Bay and Templeton both have six cases, and other areas have 11 cases.
COVID-19 symptoms to watch
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Older adults and individuals with underlying medical conditions are particularly vulnerable to the virus.
Health officials urge those who exhibit symptoms to stay home, avoid contact with others, and call their health-care provider or urgent-care clinic before seeking medical care to receive safe arrival instructions, if directed to do so.
Go to the emergency room only if you are experiencing a medical emergency.
The county is preparing for a surge in cases and has asked qualified volunteers to apply for the Medical Reserve Corps. The corps would be activated if hospitals reach capacity and Cal Poly is used as an alternative care site.
To volunteer for the medical corps auxiliary, sign up at HealthcareVolunteers.ca.gov and then email the San Luis Obispo Medical Corps coordinator at slomrc@gmail.com.
Visit ReadySLO.org for the latest public health updates and recommendations.
This story was originally published April 6, 2020 at 2:02 PM.
