More SLO County residents under age 30 are testing positive for coronavirus. Here’s why
More than one-third of San Luis Obispo County residents who’ve tested positive for coronavirus are under age 30 — a trend that local public health officials attribute to young people going out more and spending time in riskier settings.
About 37% of people locally confirmed to have COVID-19 are 29 and younger, according to county Public Health Department data updated on Thursday.
Nearly 10% of those who tested positive for the disease are 17 and younger, while about 27% are 18 to 29 and another 27% are 30 to 49.
Altogether, more than 64% of local COVID-19 patients are younger than 50. About 36% of county residents with COVID-19 are older than 50, and only about 14% are 65 and older.
“We are absolutely seeing ... that young adults — older teens, young adults — are beginning to contract this disease in large numbers,” Dr. Penny Borenstein, county public health officer, said during a Wednesday news conference. “The 18- to 29-year-old age group and the 30- to 49-year-old age group are the highest number of cases they have.”
“These individuals do get the disease in large (numbers),” Borenstein continued. “They do have, in general, a better course than do their older counterparts. But ... as we’ve said many times, they can transmit to others, more medically vulnerable people, as well as older individuals.”
More SLO County young people are getting COVID-19
A chart Borenstein displayed at Wednesday’s news conference showed an especially sharp COVID-19 uptick in the 18- to 29-year-old and 30- to 49-year-old age groups starting at the end of May.
County public health department officials didn’t start breaking down coronavirus data into those smaller age groups until late June. They initially charted only case numbers for the 18- to 49-year-old group.
On April 14 — one month after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the county — about 58% of those who tested positive for COVID-19 were age 50 and older, and nearly 37% were 18 to 49. About 5% of those with the illness were under 18.
A month later, on May 14, about 46% of those with COVID-19 were older than 50. About 44% of people with the illness were 18 to 49, and nearly 10% were younger than 18.
By June 15, 48% of residents with COVID-19 were 18 to 49, 42% were 50 and older and 10% were younger than 18.
Young people ‘playing Russian roulette’ by taking risks
Borenstein said that younger people are likely contracting COVID-19 at higher rates because they’re more willing to leave their houses and visit places where disease transmission can more easily occur, such as bars.
On Monday, Borenstein said in a news release that some residents who tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend had visited bars.
“We are seeing many more cases in that group, because I think they are out and about more, and they are taking more risks in terms of where they are out and about,” she said.
Younger residents are more likely to recover from COVID-19 and probably won’t get as sick as those who are older or have health conditions, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t worry about becoming ill, Borenstein said.
“They, themselves, are playing a bit of a game of Russian roulette by taking their chances of getting the disease,” she said. “While the vast majority will do well — will have a mild illness, will recover quickly — we have now four individuals in the hospital of those (younger) age groups and one in intensive care. So everyone is putting themselves at risk.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 3:24 PM.
