San Luis Obispo County Public Health officials say a backlog of COVID-19 cases in the state's database is causing a delay in reporting those cases at the local level.
Local officials are reportedly reviewing those cases now and expect the total number of confirmed cases in the county to surpass 10,000 by the end of the week.
County health officials say the state recently started a new process to rapidly assign suspected cases to a jurisdiction. Those cases must then be inspected at the local level and reclassified by a local health official as a confirmed case to ensure the accuracy of local data.
"Ensuring that we are accurately tracking cases is paramount to our response to the virus and slowing the spread," said Dr. Penny Borenstein, County Health Officer. "Don't wait for the data to update. Protect yourself and your community: wear a mask, don't gather, stay home if you are sick, and get tested."
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 its highest ever number of active cases at 2,093. Fifty-nine people are in the hospital, including 12 patients who are in the ICU. That also marks the county's highest number of hospitalized cases, 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 start of the pandemic.
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.
