Coronavirus updates: Atascadero schools open online, SLO County adds 22 COVID-19 cases
San Luis Obispo County added 22 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, 2,300 San Luis Obispo County residents have had coronavirus, and 17 people have died locally due to the virus.
Local schools are preparing to open online, and Grizzly Youth Academy in San Luis Obispo has reopened its program against its board of director’s recommendations.
Here are your local updates for Wednesday:
First day of school for Atascadero district
San Luis Obispo County’s first day of school kicked off Wednesday in Atascadero as students from kindergarten to 12th grade began the year in distance learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Atascadero Unified School District encompasses 13 schools educating about 4,600 students.
The district’s independent study and home school learning option has seen a huge increase in enrollment due to COVID-19, said Atascadero Choices in Education (ACE) Academy Principal Chris Balogh.
SLO County adds 22 new COVID-19 cases
San Luis Obispo County added 22 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, bringing the total number of people who have locally tested positive for COVID-19 since March to 2,300, according to ReadySLO.org.
The city of San Luis Obispo added three coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
In the North County, Paso Robles added nine coronavirus cases, while Atascadero added three cases, San Miguel added two and Templeton added one.
In the South County, Nipomo added two cases and Grover Beach added two and Oceano added one case of COVID-19.
SLO County hospitals offer new option for patients
Tenet Health Central Coast, which operates Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton and Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, has launched a new tele-medicine service for patients who may be fearful of going to the ER because of the coronavirus pandemic.
If a patient requires in-person care, diagnostic procedures or lab tests, they will be asked to come into the hospital, according to hospital officials.
Patients can access Tele-ER around the clock by calling 805-546-7990.
More Cal Poly students test positive for COVID-19
Eight more Cal Poly students have tested positive for coronavirus since Monday, all from students, according to the university’s COVID-19 information website.
That brings its total to 29 total cases since March — 23 of which involve students, and six of which involve university employees. Of the positive cases, 22 live in San Luis Obispo County.
On Monday, 15 students had tested positive since March, along with six teachers.
Santa Barbara County reports 78 new COVID-19 cases, 1 more death
Santa Barbara County Public Health officials on Tuesday reported 78 new COVID-19 cases and one new known virus-related death.
A Santa Barbara resident “over 70 years of age” died of COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. The person had underlying health conditions and was associated with a congregate-living facility. Additional details about the case, including gender or when the individual died, were not released.
There have been 7,074 total confirmed coronavirus cases and 73 deaths, according to Public Health officials.
SLO County families struggle to adjust to school online
San Luis Obispo County schools are reopening via distance learning due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Without in-person classes, teachers said detecting the signs of an unstable or unsafe home environment is a lot harder.
A total of 2,965 students qualify for assistance under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act in San Luis Obispo County, according to a program coordinator for homeless and foster youth services at the county Office of Education.
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 Tuesday.
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
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.
This story was originally published August 12, 2020 at 12:52 PM.
