Coronavirus updates: Eighth SLO County resident dies due to COVID-19, 74 new cases
San Luis Obispo County reported 74 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the total number of people who have locally tested positive for COVID-19 since March to 1,467, according to ReadySLO.org.
Several business sectors, including bars, barbershops and indoor dining, had to close once again due to the county’s high case rate and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s July 13 order. Now local businesses are bringing their services outdoors.
Here are your local updates for Thursday:
Eighth SLO County resident dies from COVID-19
An eighth San Luis Obispo County resident has died due to coronavirus, according to county public health officials.
The person, who was in their 80s and had underlying health conditions, had been living in a care facility, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department said in a news release Thursday.
The patient had been hospitalized for three days after being released from a long-term care facility that recently had a coronavirus outbreak, the county said.
SLO County sets a one-day record for new COVID-19 cases
San Luis Obispo County added 74 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday, one of the highest daily tallies to date, according to ReadySLO.org.
As of Thursday, there were a total of 481 local active COVID-19 cases.
In the North County, Paso Robles added 21 COVID-19 cases, Atascadero added 15, Templeton added two and Shandon added one.
In the South County, Arroyo Grande gained eight COVID-19 cases. Grover Beach added three, Nipomo added four, and Oceano had five new cases.
In the North Coast area, Morro Bay added one case and Los Osos added two new cases.
And in San Luis Obispo, seven new cases were reported Thursday.
Coronavirus scammers are calling SLO County residents
A new coronavirus-related phone scam just popped on the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department’s radar.
County public health officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said at a Wednesday news briefing the county believes the scammers, who pretend to work for the public health department, hope to gather personal information and cause public distrust by implying that the agency is miscounting cases.
Borenstien said at a Wednesday news briefing that, despite the scam, the department’s case count is accurate.
If a person tests positive for coronavirus, they will be contacted by the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department, Borenstein said, and it is important for people to answer that call for contact tracing.
Santa Barbara County coronavirus hospitalizations reach record high
A new record-high of COVID-19 hospitalizations were reported in Santa Barbara County on Wednesday, according to the county Public Health Department.
There were 85 patients being treated in local hospitals, with 29 of them in intensive care units.
Santa Barbara County’s previous high for hospitalizations was 82 patients this week.
The total number of COVID-19 hospitalizations represented a nearly 42% increase since this time last month — up from 60 COVID-positive hospital patients on June 22 in the county. Wednesday’s total of COVID-19-specific ICU beds tied for the all-time high set on July 16.
The county added 160 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the number of active cases to 342, Noozhawk reported.
SLO restaurants turn to parklets, parking lots for outdoor dining
The city of San Luis Obispo is rolling out new parklets to replace their street closure pilot program and adhere to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s order requiring the coronvirus-related closures of indoor dining, beauty salons, bars and other business sectors.
Parklets are defined as seating areas or green spaces, created for public use on or alongside a sidewalk, often where streetside parking space used to be.
San Luis Obispo’s parklet program includes quick installations of about 25 temporary parklets using water-filled barricades and other materials to allow businesses to expand into parking lanes.
Parklets can currently be found on multiple streets downtown, including Higuera and Monterey streets.
Fourth SLO Jail inmate tests positive for coronavirus
A fourth San Luis Obispo County Jail inmate has tested positive for COVID-19, the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
The inmate was found to have coronavirus symptoms on July 21 and was immediately isolated from the other inmates, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release.
On Saturday, the Sheriff’s Office announced that two county jail inmates had tested positive for coronavirus, the first reported cases of COVID-19 at the facility.
The Sheriff’s Office reported Sunday that a third inmate tested positive for COVID-19 along with a patrol deputy and a correctional deputy. Two correctional deputies tested positive last week.
COVID-19 outbreak at Templeton nursing home
Seven residents and two staff members at a skilled nursing facility in Templeton had tested positive for coronavirus as of Wednesday.
All Vineyard Hills Health Center residents and staff were tested for COVID-19 after a hospitalized resident tested positive for coronavirus last week, according to parent company Compass Health, which owns all seven skilled nursing facilities in the county.
The resident, a hospice patient who had a history of “severe and chronic respiratory problems,” died while COVID-19 positive on July 17.
Seventh SLO County resident dies of COVID-19
A seventh San Luis Obispo County resident has died due to COVID-19, the county Public Health Department reported Tuesday.
The person was in their 80s and lived in a North County nursing home that had experienced a coronavirus outbreak, the county said in a news release. The person had multiple chronic health conditions but was not hospitalized.
The county did not identify the nursing facility or the suspected source of transmission.
This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 10:43 AM.
