San Luis Obispo County will remain in the purple layer based on updated reopening metrics released on Tuesday.
Last week, SLO County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said it was possible that SLO County could move to the red level this week if county 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) census tracts, the state’s health equity metric.
Last week, both numbers were at orange levels and Dr. Borenstein said that while the county’s case rate would fall to the purple level, the county would be able to rise to the red level if positivity rates remained orange for two weeks in a row.
This week, the county’s HPI positivity rate increased to 5.9%, falling back to red levels.
The county’s overall positivity rate remains orange at 4.3%, while the case rate improved from 19.3 to 15.6 last week. To get out of the purple layer, the county’s adjusted case rate per 100,000 residents must be 7 or less.
San Luis Obispo County Department of Public Health
We continue to work hard to improve the positivity of the test across the SLO County and among the most vulnerable communities here, but we need your help to further slow the spread of this disease so that we can move to the red level and enjoy even more activities here in our county. #TierTuesday
– SLO Public Health (@SLOPublicHealth) February 16, 2021
Meanwhile, San Luis Obispo County has reported daily the total number of COVID-19 cases for the first time since last Thursday. A total of 311 new cases of COVID-19 were reported between Friday and Tuesday, bringing the county total to 19,210 confirmed cases on February 16.
The county also added five new deaths related to COVID-19. To date, SLO County has recorded 210 deaths attributed to the virus.
Health officials say 26 people are hospitalized. Another 795 people are recovering at home and health officials say 18,150 people have recovered.
San Luis Obispo County reported that 15 of the 38 licensed and staffed ICU beds in the county are currently occupied. Eight of them 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
- Los Osos – 436
- Morro Bay – 390
- Cal Poly (campus residents) – 338
- Pismo Beach – 307
- Atascadero State Hospital (patients) – 205
- Cambria – 172
- Shandon – 135
- Santa Margarita – 126
- Creston – 80
- Cayucos – 68
- Avila Beach – 26
- San Simeon – 21
- Bradley – 7
The locations of 73 additional cases are under investigation and another seven are listed as “others”, which includes communities with fewer than five cases. The Department of Public Health is not identifying these locations.
The test sites of the COVID-19 community are currently open to the public in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Grover Beach and Nipomo.
Appointments are mandatory in all locations. Click here to schedule an appointment.
San Luis Obispo County is vaccinating healthcare workers and residents 65 and older. For details on how to make an appointment, click here.
For more information on the county’s COVID-19 response, visit readyslo.org.