San Luis Obispo County remains in the purple level based on updated reopening statistics released Tuesday.
Last week, Dr. Penny Borenstein, SLO County public health officer, said it was possible SLO County could move to the red category this week if the county’s positivity rates remained low.
The state considers two numbers when it comes to a county’s positivity rate: the overall positivity rate and the positivity rate in the lowest Healthy Places Index (HPI) counts, which is the state’s health designation.
As of last week, both numbers were in orange levels and Dr. Borenstein said that although the count’s case count falls into the purple level, the county would be able to move to the red level if positivity rates remained orange for two weeks in a row.
This week, the county’s HPI positivity rate rose to 5.9%, dropping it back to the red level.
The county’s overall positivity rate remains orange at 4.3%, while the case count improved to 15.6 from 19.3 last week. To get out of the purple layer, the county’s adjusted number of cases per 100,000 residents must be 7 or less.
San Luis Obispo County Public Health Department
We continue to work hard to improve the positivity of testing in SLO County and including vulnerable communities here, but we need your help to slow the spread of this disease even further so we can move to the Red Tier and from even more activities here in our province. . #TierTuesday
– SLO Public Health (@SLOPublicHealth) February 16, 2021
Meanwhile, San Luis Obispo County reported daily COVID-19 totals for the first time since last Thursday. A total of 311 new COVID-19 cases were registered between Friday and Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to 19,210 confirmed cases on Feb. 16.
The county also added five new COVID-19-related deaths. To date, SLO County has recorded 210 deaths attributed to the virus.
Health officials say 26 people are currently hospitalized. Another 795 people are recovering at home and health officials say 18,150 people have recovered.
San Luis Obispo County reports that 15 of the county’s 38 accredited and staffed ICU beds are currently occupied. Eight of these are taken by COVID-19 patients.
Breakdown of cases by location:
- Paso Robles – 3,792
- San Luis Obispo – 3,604
- California Men’s Colony (inmates) – 2,376
- Atascadero – 1,781
- Nipomo – 1,439
- Arroyo Grande – 1,352
- Grover Beach – 784
- Ocean – 658
- Templeton – 568
- San Miguel – 465
- The Bears – 436
- Morro Bay – 390
- Cal Poly (campus residents) – 338
- Pismo Beach – 307
- Atascadero State Hospital (patients) – 205
- Cambria – 172
- Shandon – 135
- Saint Margaret – 126
- Creston – 80
- Cayucos – 68
- Avila Beach – 26
- San Simeon – 21
- Bradley – 7
The locations of 73 additional cases are being investigated, and a further seven are listed as “other”, including communities with fewer than five cases. The Health Department does not identify those locations.
Community COVID-19 test sites are currently open to the public in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Grover Beach and Nipomo.
Appointments are mandatory at all locations. Click here to make an appointment.
San Luis Obispo County is currently vaccinating health workers and residents 65 and older. To make an appointment click here.
To learn more about the county’s COVID-19 response, visit readyslo.org.