Is a quarantine end in sight? SLO County considering plan to phase out shelter at home
With several days of few new people testing positive for coronavirus, San Luis Obispo County is considering how it wants to go about lifting the coronavirus shelter-at-home orders keeping local businesses shuttered and people separated from friends and family.
But as they continue to test patients and monitor the numbers, county officials also cautioned that any easing of restrictions was still at least a couple weeks off.
At a media briefing Monday afternoon, emergency services director Wade Horton said the county is beginning to draft a plan that would slowly allow for people to resume their normal lives, with contingencies for future outbreaks of the COVID-19 virus.
“Because we are slowing the spread of this virus, we believe the county will be in a good position to enter phased reopening in our communities while continuing to manage this disease,” Horton said.
On Monday, San Luis Obispo County had only three new coronavirus cases, bringing the local tally to 117.
The number of confirmed new cases per day peaked at the end of March, and has leveled off in recent days. Monday marked the 11th straight day of fewer than five new cases per day. Between two and four new cases have been confirmed each day for the last week.
With the help of a panel of experts, the county hopes to find ways to reopen public spaces and workplaces “to public life again while ensuring public safety,” Horton said.
“Ensuring the health of our community remains our top priority,” Horton said at Monday’s media briefing, “yet we are keenly aware of the dramatic impact the shelter-at-home order is having on the economic climate of our community.”
Though Horton did not specify exactly when the county might begin lifting its restrictions, public health officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said her office wants to wait “at least another incubation period” — or 14 days — to make sure San Luis Obispo County is actually flattening the curve.
San Luis Obispo County has had markedly fewer coronavirus cases than some surrounding counties. As of Monday, Santa Barbara County had 284 cases and two deaths, and Kern County had 446 confirmed cases and three deaths.
“The reasons for case numbers are all of the above: testing capabilities and amounts — I don’t think we are falling down there, though we would certainly like to do more,” Borenstein said. “Are there clusters of cases and outbreaks? We’re not seeing that, thankfully. And has our social distancing been working? We think so, and we think that is why we are seeing a flattening of the curve.”
“We consider ourselves lucky to be in that case, but we also, more than luck, think we have been doing all the right things,” Borenstein concluded.
This story was originally published April 13, 2020 at 4:44 PM.
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