SLO County adds 16 new COVID-19 cases — 129 cases are active
San Luis Obispo County added 16 new cases of coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 since March to 489, according to ReadySLO.org.
Thursday ties the record-high number of hospitalized patients since mid-March with 10 patients. San Luis Obispo County hospitals have not had 10 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 since April 1.
As of Thursday, San Luis Obispo County has 129 active cases, which is the highest number of active cases.
According to state data, San Luis Obispo County’s positive test rate is around 2%, double what it was two weeks ago.
Nipomo and San Luis Obispo each added five new cases. Arroyo Grande reported two new cases. Pismo Beach, Los Osos and Paso Robles each added one new case. And a new case was added in an area listed as other.
SLO County’s COVID-19 cases by the numbers
A majority of San Luis Obispo County residents who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 — 360 — have completely recovered from the illness, with six new recoveries reported since Wednesday.
A total of 118 people are still recovering at home. Ten patients, are receiving hospital treatment. Three patients, one more than Wednesday, are in intensive care units.
One local resident has died from COVID-19.
The Paso Robles area continues to have the most COVID-19 cases in the county with 148
Atascadero has 64 cases, Nipomo has 62, San Luis Obispo has 58, Arroyo Grande has 40 and Templeton has 20.
The California Men’s Colony has 11. Pismo Beach has 15 cases and Grover Beach has 14. Morro Bay has 10, San Miguel has nine, Los Osos has seven, and Shandon has five.
Other areas — defined as cities or communities with fewer than five cases — have 21 cases altogether.
In total, 106 cases involve people ages 50 to 64, 65 cases involve people age 65 to 84, and 11 are people over the age of 85 years old.
There are 135 residents aged 30 to 49 who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 and 119 residents aged 18 to 29 year’s old. The remaining 53 cases involve people age 17 and younger. Thursday marks the first day where the county included more specific age range demographics for residents under 50.
In total, the county has determined 61 patients acquired the virus through travel, 239 acquired it through person-to-person contact and 163 contracted it through community spread.
The county has not determined the route of transmission for 26 cases.
San Luis Obispo County public and private health labs have conducted at least 19,593 tests. The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Lab has conducted 4,630 tests with 123 positive results.
Private health labs, which began reporting their negative test results April 13, have conducted at least 14,963 tests with 366 positive results.
Where to get a COVID-19 test
Two new free COVID-19 testing clinics open this week in Oceano and Cambria.
The pop-up testing clinics will be staffed by county employees and analyzed at the Public Health Department lab, which has recently increased its testing capacity to 300 tests per day.
In addition to the pop-up testing events, free COVID-19 testing is available at ongoing sites in Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo. In total, the sites include:
▪ Cambria: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Cambria Veterans Hall, 100 Main St.
▪ Grover Beach: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Ramona Garden Park, 993 Ramona Ave.
▪ Oceano: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. Oceano Community Center, 1425 19th St.
▪ San Luis Obispo: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Veterans Memorial Hall, 801 Grand Ave.
Testing is available through private healthcare providers, urgent care centers and the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Lab.
Visit ReadySLO.org for the latest public health updates and recommendations.
To make an appointment, visit emergencySLO.org/testing; you can register by phone at 888-634-1123.
The county continues to ask that people limit large social gatherings and wear face coverings in public spaces when physical distancing can’t be maintained, in accordance with a state mandate issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom last Thursday.
This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 1:00 PM.
