Coronavirus updates: SLO County resident dies; outbreak at Grizzly Youth Academy
San Luis Obispo County added 24 new cases of COVID-19 and one more coronavirus-related on Tuesday.
As of Tuesday, 2,278 San Luis Obispo County residents have had coronavirus, and 17 people have died locally due to the virus.
The city of San Luis Obispo is giving out grants to local businesses who are struggling to survive during the pandemic. And Grizzly Youth Academy has reopened its program, against the board of director’s recomendations.
Here are your local updates for Tuesday:
17th SLO County resident dies due to coronavirus
A 17th San Luis Obispo County resident has died due to coronavirus, the county Public Health Department said via Twitter.
The person was “vulnerable to serious illness” because they were in their 90s and had chronic health conditions, the agency said.
The Public Health Department confirmed that a 16th person had died from COVID-19 on Monday.
SLO County adds 24 cases of coronavirus
San Luis Obispo County added 24 new cases of coronavirus Tuesday, a day after the county reported its highest single-day increase.
The county reported 85 new COVID-19 cases on Monday.
A total of 2,278 people have locally tested positive for COVID-19 since March, according to ReadySLO.org.
The city of San Luis Obispo saw six new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.
In the North County, Paso Robles added 10 coronavirus cases, while Atascadero added three cases and Templeton added two.
In the South County, Nipomo and Oceano added one case apiece.
Grizzly Youth Academy cadets test positive for COVID-19
Grizzly Youth Academy opened its summer program amid surging statewide coronavirus cases, resulting in several cadets falling ill with COVID-19.
The youth academy’s board of directors had recommended they not hold the summer program, but the California National Guard went ahead with it.
Two weeks after arriving in San Luis Obispo, an unspecified number of cadets were sent home after testing positive for COVID-19, but California military officials say they plan on bringing the cadets back to the boot camp once their symptoms subside.
SLO gives money to businesses struggling to survive pandemic
The city of San Luis Obispo, working in partnership with The Community Foundation San Luis Obispo County and the San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce, is offering individual grants of up to $5,000 to local businesses impacted by COVID-19.
The money is coming from donations and $200,000 the city has allocated from the CARES Act funding the city received as part of the federal government’s stimulus package.
SLO gym cited for COVID-19 violations
Club 24 fitness center in San Luis Obispo has been issued a $1,000 citation for violating the statewide order on businesses to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Local gyms and fitness centers may operate outdoors but not indoors because the county exceeds the state’s criteria for its COVID-19 case rate.
The city previously issued fines to McLintock’s and Buffalo Pub and Grill in downtown San Luis Obisp
Cal Poly adds 2 COVID-19 cases as state heath officials release guidelines
Twenty-one students, faculty and staff in the Cal Poly community have tested positive for coronavirus prior to the school’s September start date.
Cal Poly President Jeffrey Armstrong recently told The Tribune that the university plans to only allow in-person schooling for about 15% of its classes. Those classes include labs and projects that require hands-on classwork that cannot be done at home, Armstrong said.
As of Monday, Cal Poly was still awaiting approval from California State University officials on its fall term plans. The main issue, Armstrong said, is housing.
Coronavirus cancels Central Coast rodeo
The 2020 Santa Maria Elks Rodeo has been canceled after it had already rescheduled once because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rodeo initially was planned for May 28-31 at the Santa Maria Elks Unocal Event Center and was rescheduled to Sept. 24-27 in hopes that the public health orders would ease and allow the event.
However, Elks Recreation announced the cancellation of the 77th annual rodeo in parade, marking the first cancellation since it’s inception.
How SLO County’s coronavirus contact tracing works
Twenty-five people are responsible for connecting the dots and collecting information across San Luis Obispo County for more than 2,000 local coronavirus cases.
Kristin Edler, San Luis Obispo County’s senior public health nurse and one of the county’s contact tracers, said “ach case is unique and has its own set of circumstances.”
Once a person’s COVID-19 test results are in, the San Luis Obispo County Health Department assigns each laboratory confirmed case to a contact tracer.
In July, San Luis Obispo County contact tracers were faced with an increase in coronavirus cases and an increase in the number of contacts those cases had exposed to the virus, as well as slowed test results.
