SLO County now has more than 100 coronavirus cases as public lab ramps up testing
San Luis Obispo County now has 102 confirmed coronavirus cases with three new confirmed patients Wednesday, even as the Public Health Lab significantly ratcheted up testing.
From Tuesday to Wednesday, the Public Health Lab performed 42 new COVID-19 tests from Tuesday to Wednesday, bringing the total number of tests to 570. It had only tested 11 cases from Monday to Tuesday and six from Sunday to Monday.
County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein is now encouraging patients showing even mild symptoms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, to get tested. The Public Health Department worries that current data may not be showing the illness’ true impact on the county.
Of the 102 total positive cases, 43 have come from the public lab, and 59 were conducted at private labs.
The county is still working to get data about the number of total tests private labs are conducting.
The majority of the county’s COVID-19 patients — 73 people — have completely recovered from the virus.
Twenty-five patients are recovering at home, and three patients have been hospitalized, all 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 Borenstein. Patients who have recovered are not re-tested.
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 29 coronavirus cases, Atascadero has 20 cases, Arroyo Grande has 14 cases, and San Luis Obispo has eight cases.
Nipomo, Morro Bay, and Templeton each have six cases, and other areas have 13 cases.
COVID-19 symptoms to watch
Symptoms of COVID-19 include fever, cough and shortness of breath. Mild symptoms also include chills, fatigue, sore throat, runny nose and diarrhea.
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 opened the Cal Poly Alternate Care site today and will be staffed by the Medical Reserve Corps volunteers.
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 8, 2020 at 12:59 PM.