Will SLO County stay in state’s COVID-19 red tier? Two key numbers on the rise
San Luis Obispo County will remain in the red tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy for a second week despite an uptick in both case rate and positivity rate, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Counties in the state’s COVID-19 red category are considered to have substantial, but not widespread, coronavirus cases.
Staying in the red tier allows more business sectors to remain open and operate indoors at limited capacity. And after a second week in the red tier, schools may also allow students to return to campus, according to state guidelines.
Tier assignments throughout the state are updated every Tuesday. This week’s classification was based on data from the week of Sept. 13 to Sept. 19, the CDPH said on its website.
According to Tuesday’s data, San Luis Obispo County had a positivity rate of 2%, up from the 1.5% positivity rate recorded the week prior. However, the positivity rate has remained far below the metric — less than 8% — needed to remain in the red category.
The coronavirus case rate remained the largest factor for San Luis Obispo County. From Sept. 13 to Sept. 19, the county saw multiple days with daily case counts in the high 20s, according to county data.
Counties in the red tier need an adjusted case rate lower than seven new cases per 100,000 people. San Luis Obispo County’s calculations are based on a population of 278,862 people, which means the county needs around fewer than 20 new cases per day.
Without any adjustment, the county would be back in the purple tier due to an increased case rate, forcing local businesses to close once more.
San Luis Obispo County’s unadjusted case rate Tuesday was 8.6 new cases per day per 100,000, or an average of around 24 new cases per day.
However, the case rate used to determine the county’s status was adjusted based on the number of tests conducted per day. In San Luis Obispo County, the average is 356.3 tests per 100,000 people, or a total of 993.6 cases per day, according to ReadySLO.org.
With the adjustment, the county had an average of 5.9 new cases per 100,000 people per day — below the measurement needed to remain red, according to Tuesday’s data.
To the south of San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County joined the red tier Tuesday.
Santa Barbara County’s adjusted case rate was 4.5, with an unadjusted rate of 4.8, according to the CDPH. Its testing positivity rate was 3.2%, Tuesday’s data showed.
