1,500 new COVID cases reported as SLO County sees worst spike since last January
San Luis Obispo County has reported more than 1,500 new COVID-19 cases in the last five days as numbers surge at a rate not seen since the worst of the winter spike last January, according to the latest data from the Public Health Department.
A full third of those cases, 519, were confirmed on one day, New Year’s Eve, making it the fourth-worst single day total of the entire pandemic. The single worst total for new daily cases in SLO County was 611 on Jan. 5, 2021.
The last day of 2021 also saw the highest number of hospitalizations in recent months, with 34 SLO County residents receiving inpatient treatment, including eight in intensive care.
Some of those cases have been released in recent days, and total hospitalizations have dropped to 30 with eight still in the intensive care unit. One of the hospitalized patients is a child between the ages of 0-17.
Hospitalizations are now back up to where they were in September at the end of the delta variant surge.
However, the skyrocketing case count has not translated into any new deaths in recent days, which is in line with what scientists are seeing with omicron. While the variant is highly transmissible, it doesn’t seem to cause as severe illness.
The county has now recorded 34,071 positive cases and 373 deaths due to COVID-19, according to Public Health.
The sudden surge in positive cases has pushed the county’s 14-day daily average to 191, higher than anything seen over the summer and the most since that figure stood at 195 nearly one year ago.
The number of active cases has likewise shot up to 2,089, triple what it was just one week ago. Active cases have not been above 2,000 since Jan. 22, 2021.
While omicron is likely fueling the surge, only 25 cases remain confirmed here to date. Only a small sample of positive coronavirus tests are sequenced by the state Public Health Department, so there is likely more omicron COVID-19 cases in the community than this number reflects.
For three months through fall, though, nearly 100% of confirmed variants in California were delta. That changed with the latest variant update on Dec. 21, when delta dropped to just over 84%, as omicron arrived with 16%.
Here’s how local coronavirus case numbers from the past five break down day by day:
The county Public Health Department is not providing information about how many newly reported individual cases, hospitalizations and deaths involve vaccinated and unvaccinated people due to resource limitations and privacy concerns.
Instead, Public Health is releasing weekly data showing the percentages of unvaccinated people who’ve contracted COVID-19, received hospital treatment for the virus or died from it since June 15.
The agency on Dec. 10 released data showing that unvaccinated people account for about 77% of COVID-19 cases, 82% of hospitalizations and 73% of deaths since June 15.
New COVID-19 cases by city
Here is where new COVID-19 cases were added in San Luis Obispo County, according to the county public health department:
North County
Paso Robles: 230
Atascadero: 142
Templeton: 49
San Miguel: 19
Santa Margarita: 10
Creston: 8
Shandon: 3
Atascadero State Hospital: 2
South County
Arroyo Grande: 192
Nipomo: 134
Grover Beach: 61
Pismo Beach: 56
Oceano: 41
Avila Beach: 8
SLO and North Coast
San Luis Obispo: 338
Morro Bay: 74
Los Osos: 72
Cambria: 33
Cayucos: 15
San Simeon: 10
The locations of 25 cases were listed as “other.” A total of 217 cases remained under investigation.
Where to get a COVID-19 test and schedule a vaccine appointment
Free coronavirus testing is available at clinics in San Luis Obispo, Grover Beach, Paso Robles and Morro Bay. To make an appointment, visit slocounty.ca.gov/COVID-19/COVID-19-Testing or call 888-634-1123 to register by phone.
Testing is administered at 801 Grand Ave. in San Luis Obispo, 1336 Ramona Ave. #A in Grover Beach, 209 Surf St. in Morro Bay and 800 Pine St. in Paso Robles.
To make an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine or booster, visit MyTurn.ca.gov or call 833-422-4255. The county Public Health Department is also administering vaccines and boosters on a walk-in basis at clinics in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles and Grover Beach. To find shots at pharmacies near you, visit Vaccines.gov.
The clinics are open Monday and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed noon to 1 p.m. for lunch), and Saturdays for vaccines only from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Vaccines are administered at the San Luis Obispo clinic is located at 2191 Johnson Ave., the Grover Beach clinic is located at 286 South 16th St. and the Paso Robles clinic is located at 800 Pine St.
For more information, visit slocounty.ca.gov/COVID-19/Vaccines
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 2:04 PM.