SLO County adds 13 COVID-19 cases — with only 2 local cities reporting new patients
San Luis Obispo County’s updated state COVID-19 numbers will keep it in the red tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy for another week.
That’s despite the fact that the county’s testing positivity rate fell again into the lowest, and least restrictive, of the state’s four color levels.
Meanwhile, San Luis Obispo County added 13 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday.
A total of 3,755 people have tested positive for COVID-19 locally since March.
On Tuesday, San Luis Obispo County entered its third week in the red tier of California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, 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, local schools can allow students to return to campus, San Luis Obispo County announced on Tuesday.
Tier assignments throughout the state are updated every Tuesday. This week’s classification was based on data from the week of Sept. 30 to Oct. 6, the CDPH said on its website.
According to Tuesday’s data, San Luis Obispo County’s positivity rate dipped to 1.9%, down from 2% last week, which actually would qualify for the yellow tier.
New COVID-19 cases per day per 100,000 people, however, remain in the red tier at an adjusted rate of 5.1 new cases per day per 100,000 people, or 6.6 overall.
Counties in the red tier need an adjusted coronavirus case rate lower than 7 new cases per day per 100,000 people. The county needs to drop below 4 to move to the orange tier.
San Luis Obispo County’s calculations are based on a population of 278,862 people, which means the county needs fewer than 20 new cases per day to stay in the red tier or about 11 a day to get to orange.
At an unadjusted rate of 6.6 new cases per day per 100,000, SLO county is seeing an average of around 18 new cases per day.
However, the case rate used to determine the county’s status is actually lower because it’s adjusted based on the number of tests conducted per day, which is outperforming the statewide median.
In San Luis Obispo County, the average is 332.9 tests per 100,000 people, or a total of 925 cases per day, according to ReadySLO.org. The state median is 216 tests per 100,000 people per day.
With the adjustment, the county had an average of 5.1 new cases per 100,000 people per day — or about 14 total per day, according to Tuesday’s data.
COVID-19 cases by city
Here is where new COVID-19 cases were added Tuesday in San Luis Obispo County:
- San Luis Obispo: 9
- Paso Robles: 4
The locations of six new cases were listed as “other.”
San Luis Obispo County’s total does not include 10 of the 302 inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19 at California Men’s Colony state prison in San Luis Obispo, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Six inmates who tested positive were released from custody and one inmate died due to COVID-19.
According to Cal Poly, at least 133 students and six employees at the San Luis Obispo university had tested positive for the virus as of Monday. Fifteen on-campus students were in isolation as of Monday, with an additional 204 students in quarantine.
For a detailed look at local coronavirus cases by age, ethnicity, occupation and more, visit ReadySLO.org.
SLO County coronavirus cases by the numbers
Here’s a look at San Luis Obispo County’s cases, according to the county Public Health Department:
- Active cases as of Monday: 187
- Recovered cases: 3,536
- People recovering at home: 184
- People receiving hospital care: 3
- People in intensive care units: 0
- Deaths due to COVID-19: 31
Where to get a COVID-19 test
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is urging anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, or those who have come into contact with someone with the virus, to get tested.
Free coronavirus testing is available at clinics throughout San Luis Obispo County:
Arroyo Grande: Located at the South County Regional Center, 800 W. Branch St. in Arroyo Grande, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday.
San Luis Obispo: At the Veterans Memorial Hall, 801 Grand Ave., 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Paso Robles: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Frontier Pavilion, Paso Robles Event Center, 2198 Riverside Ave.
Morro Bay: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Veterans Memorial Building, 209 Surf St. Begins Oct. 6.
In addition, COVID-19 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. ReadySLO.org lists over a dozen urgent care centers that offer COVID-19 testing.
To make an appointment, visit emergencySLO.org/testing; you can register by phone at 888-634-1123.