SLO County reinstates indoor mask mandate for all residents
The San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department is once again ordering residents to wear face masks in all indoor public places, regardless of vaccination status.
“This is a tried and true method of prevention of this disease ... and we need to do it,” county Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said during a media briefing Tuesday afternoon.
This mask order applies to everyone, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not, when they are indoors.
Borenstein said the move comes as local hospitals are seeing a surge in patients needing medical treatment for the virus.
A total of 67 county residents are hospitalized with severe COVID-19, including 20 in intensive care units, according to a news release Tuesday.
That’s the highest number of COVID-19 patients that San Luis Obispo County has ever had in ICUs and hospitals, according to the release.
The mask mandate goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.
“It is not something I want to do,” Borenstein said during the briefing. “However, I feel it is the necessary and right thing to do to protect especially the most vulnerable and those who cannot get vaccinated in our community.”
COVID-19 cases have increased dramatically during the month of August, with 3,543 new cases and 18 coronavirus-related deaths in the past month, compared with 163 cases and no deaths due to the virus during the month of June.
On Tuesday, Borenstein said the public health department was responding to more than 90 outbreaks of the virus across San Luis Obispo County.
Borenstein said that public health officials will continue to review local case and hospitalization numbers to determine when the mask mandate might be lifted.
“My answer is ‘as long as necessary’ and hopefully that will be as short as possible,” Borenstein said Tuesday.
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Doctors, officials urge SLO County residents to get vaccinated, wear masks
A slew of medical professionals also spoke during the media briefing on Tuesday, begging residents to take the virus seriously, get vaccinated and wear masks indoors.
“Despite what you may have or may not have heard, our hospitals are treating many patients with a severe and contagious disease,” Tenet Health Central Coast CEO Mark Lisa said during the briefing.
“This is the worst that we’ve seen so far,” added Lisa, whose company owns Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo and Twin Cities Community Hospital in Templeton. “The virus doesn’t care how you vote. The virus doesn’t take its cues from social media, and the virus doesn’t engage in conspiracy theory. The virus knows it wants to live.”
Lisa said if people want to get back to their daily lives, the best way would be to “wear a mask, maintain social distancing and get vaccinated.”
Alan Iftiniuk, CEO of French Hospital Medical Center in San Luis Obispo, noted that the latest surge in patients is stressing the hospital’s resources.
“This pandemic has stressed our operations,” he said. “The medical and physical toll this pandemic has taken on the healthcare staff is becoming more and more apparent with each passing day. Undoubtedly, staff are growing increasingly disheartened to again see such critically ill COVID-19 patients when there are in fact, preventative measures, such as getting vaccinated and wearing masks.”
Dr. Trees Ritter, chief medical officer for Arroyo Grande Community Hospital, said local hospitals and physicians are “overwhelmed” by the latest surge in COVID-19 and have to deal with staffing shortages and limit the services they can provide.
“Everybody is exhausted and we are looking for the help of the community, and we know exactly what needs to happen,” Ritter said. “We know that staying away from people when you are sick is important. We know that social distancing is important. We know that masking is important and works and we’d like to see people return to doing that, as not only a way to protect themselves, but to protect others.”
Ritter also encouraged everyone who could get vaccinated against COVID-19 to do so.
“We know that vaccines work. They’re safe. They’re effective. They’re (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) approved,” he said, “and we would encourage everyone who’s eligible to get vaccinated and return to indoor masking.”
According to San Luis Obispo County Public Health data, about 60.3% of the population was fully vaccinated against coronavirus as of Aug. 23. This does not include shots administered by private entities such as pharmacies.
As of Tuesday, just under 77% of COVID-19 cases reported since June 15 involved people who were unvaccinated, according to county Public Health data.
Unvaccinated individuals made up 85.5% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 79% of deaths in that same time period, data show.
Where to get a COVID-19 test and schedule a vaccine appointment
Free coronavirus testing is available at clinics in San Luis Obispo and Paso Robles. To make an appointment, visit emergencySLO.org/testing or call 888-634-1123 to register by phone.
The county Public Health Department is currently administering coronavirus vaccines to everyone age 12 and up.
Those eligible to receive their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine can register online or by phone for California’s My Turn appointment system. The county Public Health Department is also administering vaccines on a walk-in basis at clinics in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Grover Beach.
To find appointments, visit MyTurn.ca.gov and complete the registration process. Those who need assistance registering for a vaccine can call 833-422-4255 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday through Sunday.
To learn more about vaccines offered at the three clinics, or to find out about mobile and pop-up clinics near you, visit RecoverSLO.org/en/when-and-where-can-you-get-vaccinated.aspx. To sign up for email alerts, visit EmergencySLO.org/en/newsletter.aspx.
Residents can also find appointments for coronavirus vaccines through private health partners and some chain pharmacies, including CVS and Vons. To find shots at pharmacies near you, visit Vaccines.gov.
This story was originally published August 31, 2021 at 3:35 PM.
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