SLO County adds 34 coronavirus cases — and fails a state benchmark
CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect the accurate number of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County. A previous version of this article had double-counted the number of California Men’s Colony coronavirus cases.
San Luis Obispo County added 34 coronavirus cases on Thursday, according to ReadySLO.org, a jump from single-digit daily case counts reported earlier this week.
A total of 2,613 people have tested positive for coronavirus in San Luis Obispo County since March.
As of Thursday, the county does not meet two of the state’s six reopening metrics.
The county’s case rate has remained higher than 100 positive people per 100,000 population over a 14-day period since July. However, this week, the county’s change in hospitalizations also violated state standards.
According to the state, in order to have a stable hospitalization rate the increase in hospitalized patients must remain lower than 10% in a three-day window or the county must have fewer than 20 hospitalized patients.
The county’s number of hospitalized patients dipped back down below 20 on Thursday.
Cal Poly’s coronavirus numbers have risen as well: up one from 32 cases on Monday to 33 cases on Thursday. Of those, 27 of the positive cases are from students and six from employees. The university has conducted 395 tests for students through its Campus Health and Wellbeing.
New COVID-19 cases by city
The city of San Luis Obispo saw eight new coronavirus cases Thursday.
In the North County, two cases were removed from Paso Robles’ count, and Atascadero each added seven coronavirus cases. Templeton added two and San Miguel added one.
In the South County, Arroyo Grande added three coronavirus cases. Both Oceano and Nipomo added two cases.
Grover Beach added one case and one case was removed from Avila Beach’s case count.
In the North Coast area, Los Osos added one case.
No new cases were reported in undisclosed parts of the county, while one case was removed from the under-investigation category.
SLO County coronavirus cases by the numbers
A majority of San Luis Obispo County residents who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 — 2,153— have completely recovered from the illness.
A total of 424 people are still recovering at home. Of the 15 patients receiving hospital treatment, five patients remain in intensive care units.
In total, 152 patients have been admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19.
A total of 20 county residents have died due to coronavirus, including a person in their 80s who died Wednesday. The person had underlying health conditions, according to a tweet by the county Public Health Department.
According to the county Public Health Department, cases are categorized by zip code rather than city or town limits.
The Paso Robles area continues to have the most COVID-19 cases in the county with 674, while the city of San Luis Obispo has 301 coronavirus cases.
Nipomo and Atascadero both have 296.
Arroyo Grande has 176.
Grover Beach has 123 coronavirus cases, Templeton has 102, San Miguel has 97 and Oceano has 87.
Pismo Beach has 49 cases of coronavirus, while Los Osos has 48 and Morro Bay has 35. Cambria has 30 cases.
Santa Margarita has 23, Shandon has 16, Cayucos has 13. Avila Beach has seven and San Simeon has six COVID-19 cases.
A total of 234 inmates and 25 employees at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo have tested positive for COVID-19 since mid-March, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
‘Three of the inmates were released while active and 12 inmates have recovered, the CDCR said. (The case numbers reported on the CDCR website vary slightly from those reported on ReadySLO.org.)
Other areas — defined as cities or communities with fewer than five cases — have 11 cases altogether. And two cases are listed as under investigation.
In total, 478 cases involve people ages 50 to 64, while 216 cases involve people age 65 to 84, and 52 involve people over the age of 85 years old.
According to ReadySLO.org, 104 people over the age of 50 have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 to date.
There are 914 residents aged 30 to 49 who have tested positive for COVID-19 and 700 residents aged 18 to 29 years old. The remaining 254 cases involve people age 17 and younger.
County data shows that a total of 47 coronavirus positive people under the age of 50 have been hospitalized since mid-March.
In total, 1,222 cases were acquired by person-to-person contact, meaning the patient came into contact with a confirmed coronavirus case. A total of 184 cases are travel-related, according to ReadySLO.org.
Another 729 cases were acquired by community spread, which means patients do not know if they came into direct contact with a confirmed case and they did not acquire COVID-19 by travel.
And 479 coronavirus cases are still under investigation by county contact tracers.
San Luis Obispo County public and private health labs have conducted at least 51,000 tests locally. A total of 1,299 tests were reportedly conducted between Wednesday and Thursday.
SLO County COVID-19 cases by ethnicity and ocupation
The county Health Department added a new category organizing positive COVID-19 cases by ethnicity on ReadySLO.org.
The county reported Wednesday that 1,216 positive COVID-19 cases involved Hispanic or Latino residents, while 932 cases involved non-Hispanic or Latino people.
Another 465 cases are of unknown ethnicity.
Edler had told The Tribune that in areas like Paso Robles and Nipomo, multi-generational housing is more common.
Public Health Department spokesperson Michelle Shoresman said via email that in areas with higher per capita rates, the county has seen more dense living situations and more people in agriculture and construction jobs. The county also noted that in those areas there has been less compliance with mask wearing and people have not been avoiding gatherings as much.
Health experts and advocates have attributed higher case counts among Hispanics and Latnios to “barriers that prevent some from accessing healthcare, a higher likelihood of living in multi-generational households and working in professions considered essential that cannot be accomplished at home,” according to the Sacramento Bee.
The county’s ReadySLO.org site also features a new category organizing positive COVID-19 cases by occupation.
The report listed on ReadySLO.org shows 538 coronavirus cases involving retired or unemployed people and 400 cases involving craftsmen, construction workers and other skilled labor professions.
A total of 311 cases involve people working in education and child care settings, while 263 involve those in office, management, sales or retail professions. There are 186 cases in food service; 168 cases in the health care and dental care; 117 cases in agriculture and 102 cases in professional, technical and related professions.
A total of 80 cases involve first responders, seven cases involve police officers, and two cases involve veterinarians and other animal health practitioners. The occupations of another 237 positive cases are listed as not specified, and 51 cases as unknown.
Where to get a COVID-19 test
After briefly requesting that residents hold back on getting tested for coronavirus, the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is once again urging anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, or those who have come into contact with someone with the virus, to get tested.
In a news release on Aug. 14, the county said it has expanded its testing capacity and “can once again test anyone who may have been exposed, even if you do not have symptoms.”
“If you think you have been exposed, stay home and make an appointment online to get tested at least five days after exposure,” Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said in the release. “Please also stay home until you receive your test results. We don’t want anyone unknowingly spreading COVID-19.”
A pop-up testing location will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday at Pavilion on the Lake, 9315 Pismo Ave. in Atascadero.
Another testing site is located at the Nipomo Senior Center on 200 Beechnut St., from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, Aug. 24 until Sept. 3.
Free COVID-19 testing is available at ongoing sites in Grover Beach and San Luis Obispo.
- Grover Beach: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Ramona Garden Park, 993 Ramona Ave.
- 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.
This story was originally published August 20, 2020 at 1:37 PM.
