Public health officials in San Luis Obispo County say an accumulation of COVID-19 cases in the state’s database is causing a delay in reporting these cases at the local level.
Local authorities are reviewing these cases now and expect the total number of confirmed cases in the county to exceed 10,000 by the end of the week.
County health officials say the state has recently started a new process to quickly assign suspected cases to a jurisdiction. These cases must then be inspected at the local level and reclassified by a local health officer as a confirmed case to ensure the accuracy of local data.
“Ensuring that we are tracking cases accurately is critical to our response to the virus and delaying spread,” said Dr. Penny Borenstein, county health officer. “Don’t wait for the data to be updated. Protect yourself and your community: wear a mask, don’t get together, stay home if you’re sick and get tested.”
Health officials say the state’s new case notification process does not affect the number of hospitalized cases or the number of deaths reported locally.
Currently, San Luis Obispo County has the highest number of active cases, 2,093. Fifty-nine people are in the hospital, including 12 patients who are in the ICU. This also marks the highest number of hospitalized cases in the municipality, according to the health department.
San Luis Obispo County reported 63 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the county total to 9,602 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
The deaths of 74 county residents were attributed to infection with COVID-19.
For more information on the county’s COVID-19 response, visit readyslo.org.