Most SLO County coronavirus patients have recovered. Here’s what you need to know
The number of coronavirus cases continues to grow in San Luis Obispo County — but so do the number of recovered patients, according to ReadySLO.org.
With the possibility that there have been far more cases than confirmed, both globally and locally, it is hard to determine a recovery rate.
However, San Luis Obispo County seems to be faring better than its neighbors to the north and south, with about 80% of COVID-19 patients recovered locally.
As of Thursday, 149 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in the county. And of those cases, 119 had fully recovered, the county says.
The county Public Health Department said it is following the federal Centers for Disease Control’s guidance on who is considered recovered.
The CDC considers coronavirus positive patients recovered if they meet all three of the following criteria:
- It has been at least 72 hours since patients’ fever has resolved without the use of fever-reducing medicine,
- Respiratory symptoms have improved, and
- It has been at least seven days since symptoms first appeared.
San Luis Obispo County does not retest people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus, unlike some counties.
In order to be considered recovered when using a testing method, patients must have a resolved fever, improved respiratory symptoms and two negative results from at least two nasal swab samples collected 24 or more hours apart, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Both methods are approved by the CDC.
Why SLO County may have higher number of coronavirus recoveries
As of April 21, about 21% of Monterey County’s 154 positive cases had recovered, with 32 reported recoveries and four deaths, according to the Monterey County health department.
Like San Luis Obispo County, Monterey County does not retest patients who previously tested positive for the virus.
In Santa Barbara County, there were 440 COVID-19 cases with 194 reported recoveries and five deaths as of April 22, according to that county’s public health department. That leaves Santa Barbara County with 44% of its patients recovered.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department said it is using the negative test method.
“The decision on when to release someone from isolation is made on a case-by-case basis in consultation with doctors, infection prevention and control experts and public health officials and involves considering specifics of each situation including disease severity, illness signs and symptoms, and results of laboratory testing for that patient,” the agency’s website reads.
San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department spokesperson Michelle Shoresman said San Luis Obispo County does not retest because it is not currently recommended that people who are recovered be retested.
This is, in part, because the dead virus can remain within a person’s nasal cavity even if the person is no longer infectious, causing a positive result.
San Luis Obispo County’s recovery statistics may just be a difference in resources, according to Shoresman.
“We follow up every day, with every individual we are tracking either in isolation or quarantine, while many counties do not have the resources to do that and maybe follow up every few days or once per week,” Shoresman wrote in an email to The Tribune.
Shoresman said San Luis Obispo County may see higher recovery numbers because officials are able to contact people and update their data every day, while some counties may not be able to update as quickly.
What happens when you recover from COVID-19?
According to San Luis Obispo County, people who have recovered from the virus are told to follow the same guidelines being recommended to everyone — including diligent hand-washing and keeping six feet apart— and to test if they are experiencing symptoms once more.
Recovered patients are allowed to return to their jobs and no longer need to self-isolate.
Shoresman said that healthcare professionals who have tested positive may also return to work once they have recovered.
To the county’s knowledge, no one locally has relapsed or been newly infected since their recovery, Shoresman said.
