Public health officials in San Luis Obispo County say a remaining number of COVID-19 cases in the state database cause a delay in reporting these cases locally.
Local officials are reviewing these cases now and the total number of confirmed cases in the county is expected to exceed 10,000 by the end of the week.
County health officials say the state has recently begun a new process of quickly allocating suspicious cases to a jurisdiction. These cases must then be inspected locally and reclassified by a local health official as a confirmed case to ensure the accuracy of local data.
“Ensuring that we track cases accurately is essential to our response to the virus and slowing the spread,” said Dr. Penny Borenstein, a county health officer. “Don’t wait for the data to update. Protect your community too: wear a mask, don’t get together, stay home if you’re sick and take the test.”
Health officials say the state’s new case reporting process does not affect the number of hospitalized cases or the number of deaths reported locally.
San Luis Obispo County currently has the highest number of active cases of up to 2,093. Fifty-nine people are in hospital, including 12 patients in intensive care. This also marks the highest number of hospitalized cases in the county, according to the health department.
San Luis Obispo County reported 63 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total number to 9,602 confirmed cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
The deaths of 74 county residents were attributed to COVID-19 infection.
For more information on the county’s COVID-19 response, visit readyslo.org.