San Luis Obispo County Public Health officials reported 33 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the county's total to 20,704 confirmed cases as of April 8.
Health officials say seven people are currently hospitalized. Another 216 are recovering at home and officials say 20,221 people have recovered.
Fourteen of the 38 licensed and staffed ICU beds in the county are currently occupied. None are taken by COVID-19 patients, but one SLO County resident is in an ICU outside of the county.
San Luis Obispo County has had 256 deaths attributed to the virus.
The city of San Luis Obispo's total number of cases surpassed the city of Paso Robles on Thursday. For most of the pandemic, Paso Robles' total far exceeded that of other local cities. The latest count shows San Luis Obispo with 4,066 total cases, six more than Paso Robles.
During a press conference on Wednesday, County Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein acknowledged the higher number of cases coming out of San Luis Obispo.
"Of late, we are seeing more in San Luis than elsewhere," she said. "There's undoubtedly a contribution of our younger population that lives in this county, particularly Cal Poly and we're seeing some cases certainly in the K-12 age as well, so that's not terribly surprising but we all just need to work harder at really getting our rate down."
Breakdown of cases by location:
- San Luis Obispo - 4,066
- Paso Robles - 4,060
- California Men's Colony (inmates) - 2,384
- Atascadero - 1,974
- Nipomo - 1,551
- Arroyo Grande - 1,455
- Grover Beach - 866
- Oceano - 690
- Templeton - 612
- San Miguel - 520
- Los Osos - 487
- Morro Bay - 423
- Cal Poly (campus residents) - 375
- Pismo Beach - 335
- Atascadero State Hospital (patients) - 206
- Cambria - 177
- Santa Margarita - 145
- Shandon - 140
- Creston - 85
- Cayucos - 69
- Avila Beach - 30
- San Simeon - 21
- Bradley - 7
The locations of 15 additional cases are under investigation, and another 11 are listed as "other," which includes communities with fewer than five cases. The Public Health Department is not identifying those locations.
TESTING
Community COVID-19 testing sites are currently open to the public in San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Morro Bay, Grover Beach, and Nipomo.
Appointments are available but walk-ins are also now being accepted. Click here to schedule an appointment.
VACCINATIONS
All San Luis Obispo County residents 16 years of age and older are now eligible to register for a COVID-19 vaccine appointment. Click here to sign up.
For more information on the county's coronavirus response, visit readyslo.org.
