San Luis Obispo County public health officials say an accumulation of COVID-19 cases in the state database is causing a delay in reporting such cases locally.
According to reports, local officials are reviewing these cases 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 recently began a new process to quickly assign suspicious cases to a jurisdiction. These cases must be inspected locally and reclassified by a local health official as a confirmed case to ensure the accuracy of local data.
“Ensuring that we accurately track cases is critical to our response to the virus and slowing the spread,” said Dr. Penny Borenstein, the county health officer. “Don’t wait for the data to be updated. Protect yourself and your community: put on a mask, don’t get together, stay home if you’re sick and take the test.”
Health officials say the new state case notification process does not affect the number of hospitalized cases or the number of localized deaths.
San Luis Obispo County currently has the highest number of active cases at 2,093. Fifty-nine people are in the hospital, including 12 patients in the ICU. 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 to 9,602 confirmed cases since the pandemic began.
The deaths of 74 county residents have been attributed to COVID-19 infection.
For more information on the county’s COVID-19 response, visit readyslo.org.