SLO County COVID reporting lags as staff battle backlog of hundreds of new cases
At first glance, the Christmas holiday weekend looked to be a good one for San Luis Obispo County in terms of coronavirus numbers.
After almost two months of surging cases, between Dec. 25 and Dec. 28, the county reported only 68 new COVID-19 cases — a startling dip that raised eyebrows on eagle-eyed residents watching county and state coronavirus data dashboards.
Over that same span of time, the California Department of Public Health reported 756 new cases of coronavirus in San Luis Obispo County, bringing the local tally to 10,260 cases since March.
So what’s up with the difference of more than 680 cases?
San Luis Obispo County spokeswoman Michelle Shoresman said the discrepancy is due mainly to a recent change in the way California reports new COVID-19 cases to counties. The state is the first recipient of positive test data from testing labs, and then sends that data to county public health departments.
According to a county news release Tuesday, the state recently started a new process to rapidly assign suspected cases to a jurisdiction. Those cases then have to be inspected at the local level and reclassified by a local health official as confirmed cases to ensure they are actually San Luis Obispo County cases.
A huge number of cases have to be individually verified, leading to a big backlog of cases and the 680-case discrepancy between the state’s reporting and the county’s.
Shoresman said county Public Health Deprtment staff are working to correct the issue as fast as they can, and are counting new cases from the state as they come in. But a lag in reporting is likely for the rest of the week at least, she added.
This means San Luis Obispo County’s reported coronavirus numbers don’t tell the full story at the moment, and the current impacts of the virus on the county are likely much higher than indicated by the data.
County health officials expect the local number of cases to reach more than 10,000 by the end of the week.
In a news release, San Luis Obispo County Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein urged people to remain cautious and not be lulled into complacency by the lower-seeming numbers.
“Ensuring that we are accurately tracking cases is paramount to our response to the virus and slowing the spread,” Borenstein said. “Don’t wait for the data to update. Protect yourself and your community: wear a mask, don’t gather, stay home if you are sick, and get tested.”
Shoresman added that San Luis Obispo County’s contact tracers are trying to keep up with the local surge in cases “regardless of imported data from the state,” but are having their own difficulties due to the increase in numbers.
“It’s important for people to understand that contact tracers may not be able to call positive cases or close contacts immediately,” she said. “We need the public’s help. People should not wait to isolate. Instead, they should immediately stay home for at least 10 days if they test positive or have been exposed.”
Are other CA counties seeing case backlogs?
It is unclear if other counties are struggling with backlogs in a similar way.
A Tribune examination of nearby counties’ coronavirus data and the state’s numbers show that the two rarely match up exactly, and there does seem to be a marked difference between the state’s reports and counties’ numbers over the holiday weekend.
Santa Barbara County’s numbers most closely resemble California’s, with the former reporting 824 new cases between Dec. 25 and Dec. 28, and the latter reporting 935. Santa Barbara County’s total case numbers to date, however. are only about 100 cases fewer than what the state’s dashboard shows.
Meanwhile, Monterey, Kern and Kings counties all reported significantly fewer coronavirus cases over the weekend than the state recorded for them.
Monterey County reported 578 new cases, compared to the 1,398 the state reported.
Kern County reported roughly a sixth of the cases the state attributes to them over the same time period, with 435 new cases compared to 2,791. And Kings County reported only 41 cases over the weekend, compared with the 522 the state says the county has.
SLO County hospitalization, ICU patients rise
On Tuesday, San Luis Obispo County reported an additional 63 coronavirus cases, bringing the local tally to 9,602 cases since March. The state’s dashboard had not updated as of Tuesday afternoon.
Meanwhile, hospitalizations and the number of local people requiring intensive care has continued to jump — a troubling sign if the county hopes to avoid impacts to local hospitals.
As of Tuesday, 59 people were getting treatment at local hospitals for coronavirus, the most at one time since the outbreak began in March, according to data from the San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department.
Twelve of those patients were in intensive care units — another local record.
In all, Shoresman said people should stay vigilant and be aware that the overall case numbers don’t tell the full story.
“There is an artificial lull right now and there will be an artificial spike in the next couple of days,” she said. “Regardless, COVID-19 transmission is surging in SLO County and everyone should be taking extra precautions to stop the surge.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2020 at 2:41 PM.
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