Coronavirus updates: New SLO County cases, Cal Poly plans for students’ return
San Luis Obispo County had 211 coronavirus cases as of Thursday, adding three new COVID-19 patients.
With two state-operated coronavirus testing sites open in the county, public health officials expect that number to continue to rise.
Meanwhile, Cal Poly is planning for students possibly returning to campus in the fall. And shelter-at-home orders turned a pair of strangers into unlikely housemates.
Here are your local updates for Thursday:
SLO County adds 3 new coronavirus cases
San Luis Obispo County added three new coronavirus cases Thursday, bringing the total of local COVID-19 cases to 211.
Of those patients, a total of 167 people have completely recovered and 38 are resting at home. Five patients are in the hospital, three of which are in intensive care.
One local resident has died from COVID-19.
By closely tracking positive cases, San Luis Obispo County Public Health officials determined that, as of Thursday, 49 of the county’s COVID-19 cases were acquired during travel, 88 cases were acquired through person-to-person contact with a known case and 68 cases were acquired through community spread.
Meanwhile, six cases were acquired through unknown means, officials said.
Cal Poly plans for students’ return to campus
Cal Poly leaders are preparing a plan that would hopefully allow students to return to campus in the fall following coronavirus closures, according to a Wednesday email sent to the university community.
Cal Poly’s spring and summer quarters are being held entirely online, and the university hasn’t officially announced how fall quarter classes will be conducted.
But President Jeffrey Armstrong said Cal Poly leaders are hopeful students can resume some in-person classes in the fall — althought virtual courses could continue if necessary.
Strangers become Oceano housemates due to shelter-at-home orders
When Arul Teimouri booked a room at an Oceano house via Airbnb in late January, he signed up for a 10-day stay.
Three months later, Teimouri and his host, Bonnie Ernst, have become unlikely housemates as they’ve bunkered down at Ernst’s home due to local and statewide coronavirus shelter-at-home orders.
Union leader threatened SLO protest during coronavirus
The president of a utility workers’ union sent San Luis Obispo city officials an email in March threatening a “massive protest” if the City Council moved forward with a vote on a draft energy policy pushing all-electric new building construction over installation of natural gas.
Eric Hofmann, president of the regional branch of the Utility Workers Union of America, wrote that the union would bus in “hundreds and hundreds of pissed off people” from the Los Angeles area, “potentially adding to this (coronavirus) pandemic.”
San Luis Obispo Mayor Heidi Harmon called the letter a bullying tactic that would have put people’s lives in danger.
New SLO County clinics test more than 500 residents
Two state-operated coronavirus testing sites opened in San Luis Obispo County on Monday and have already tested more than 500 county residents, county public health officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said at a Wednesday news briefing.
Together the testing sites, located in Paso Robles and Grover Beach, have the capacity to test more than 260 people each day.
Borenstein said the results take about 48 hours to come in and the county has only received about 50 test results so far.
The county is also planning on opening additional testing sites around May 19, but details on the additional testing sites are still being worked out, Borenstein said.
Skate park covered in wood chips during COVID 19 closure
Wood chips covering a Santa Maria skate park have irked some local residents.
The Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Department spread the wood chips to prevent unauthorized use of the skateboarding facility at Fletcher Park after dealing with vandalism at the site. But the state of the skate park, which is closed to the public during the coronavirus outbreak, drew strong objections on social media.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 11:18 AM.
