SLO County continues to see high coronavirus case rates, adding 126 cases in 2 days
San Luis Obispo County added more than 120 cases in a two-day period, continuing a trend that may move the county back to amore restrictive tier under California’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
Dr. Penny Borenstein, county public health officer, told the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that the county’s COVID-19 metrics are now trending in the range of the state’s purple tier, meaning that some businesses may have to close indoor operations in a matter of weeks.
She said she was hoping to work with the state to give the county a bit more time to get its coronavirus numbers down before officials implement tougher restrictions.
“We very much don’t want businesses to be going through this back-and-forth, open-close,” Borenstein said.
The county added 126 new cases of coronavirus since Tuesday, according to ReadySLO.org, bringing the total number of county residents who have tested positive for the virus since March to 4,972.
According to the county, 54 coronavirus cases were confirmed Wednesday and 72 were confirmed Thursday. The county did not update ReadySLO.org on Wednesday due to Veterans Day.
Within the last seven-day period, a mass of cases among young adults erupted in San Luis Obispo and a total of 476 people have tested positive locally for COVID-19.
Borenstein said coronavirus spread among members of the Cal Poly community has contributed significantly to the recent spike in the county’s cases.
According to the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department, many of the county’s active coronavirus cases involve Cal Poly students living off campus in San Luis Obispo “who are gathering without proper safety precautions.”
As of Thursday, Cal Poly had not updated the number of off-campus student cases reported through the university’s health center since Tuesday. However, San Luis Obispo had the highest increase of cases since Tuesday of any San Luis Obispo County area.
According to ReadySLO.org, 85 of the latest local coronavirus cases involved patients ages 18 to 29, accounting for more than half of the 126 newest cases.
The rise in student cases threatens to spread coronavirus outside San Luis Obispo as a large number of on- and off-campus students will likely be leaving town to return home for Thanksgiving break. However, that could have a positive impact on the county’s COVID-19 case count, Borenstein said.
San Luis Obispo County broke its record for the highest number of active coronavirus cases on Thursday. As of Thursday, 580 coronavirus cases were considered active.
Despite the severe increase in COVID-19 cases, local hospitalization rates have remained low.
What tier is SLO County in?
As of Tuesday, San Luis Obispo County continues to have “substantial” coronavirus spread, according to the California State Department of Public Health.
San Luis Obispo County’s positivity rate was at 3.0% as of the latest data, representing a 1.7 percentage increase from the week prior.
The county had an adjusted average of 7.2 new cases per 100,000 people per day, which is in the purple tier level, with an unadjusted case rate of 10.2, according to state data. Both metrics were more than 3 percentage points higher than the week prior.
And the health equity metric has increased to 4.8% rate for people who live in the 12 census tracts in San Luis Obispo County ranked in the lowest quarter of California’s Health Place Index. That is in the moderate tier’s range.
According to county public information officer Michelle Shoresman, “The state’s (coronavirus restriction) blueprint allows for some flexing in numbers.”
“Before we moved into the red tier, we had to meet red tier metrics for two weeks before the move could actually occur. The same holds true now,” Shoresman wrote in an email Tuesday. “As of today, we meet the purple tier metrics, but we do not yet actually move to the purple tier. If we meet those purple metrics for two weeks, then we will officially move back to purple.”
New COVID-19 cases by city
Here is where new COVID-19 cases were added Wednesday and Thursday in San Luis Obispo County, according to ReadySLO.org:
San Luis Obispo: 59
Paso Robles: 27
Cal Poly (on-campus students): 12
Atascadero: 7
Nipomo: 5
Morro Bay: 4
Arroyo Grande: 3
Santa Margarita: 3
San Miguel: 2
Grover: Beach: 1
Templeton: 1
Atascadero State Hospital: 1
Avila: 1
One case was removed from Pismo Beach’s case count.
As of Thursday, 21 COVID-19 cases were listed as “under investigation.” The locations of four additional cases were listed as “other.”
A total of 13 employees and 21 patients at Atascadero State Hospital have tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 14 days, according to the California Department of State Hospitals, which oversees ASH.
For a detailed look at local coronavirus cases by age, occupation and more, visit ReadySLO.org.
SLO County coronavirus cases by the numbers
Here’s a look at San Luis Obispo County’s cases on Thursday, according to the county Public Health Department:
- Active cases: 580
- Recovered cases: 4,357
- People recovering at home: 575
- People receiving hospital care: 5
- People in intensive care units: 2
- Deaths due to COVID-19: 33 (including two California Men’s Colony inmates)
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:
- Morro Bay: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Veterans Memorial Building, 209 Surf St.
- Paso Robles: 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Frontier Pavilion, Paso Robles Event Center, 2198 Riverside Ave.
- San Luis Obispo: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Veterans Memorial Hall, 801 Grand Ave.
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 more than 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.
How to report a COVID-19 code violation
To report violations of coronavirus-related orders meant to limit the spread of COVID-19, call the San Luis Obispo County COVID Enforcement hotline at 805-788-2222 or email covid-compliance@co.slo.ca.us.
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 1:46 PM.
