San Luis Obispo County's COVID-19 adjusted case rate has dropped to 9.4, according to updated reopening metrics released Tuesday.
That meets the state criteria to allow outdoor sports to resume. Last week, the state issued new guidance saying that organized and recreational youth sports and recreational adult sports can resume starting Feb. 26 in counties where COVID-19 case rates are at or below 14 cases per 100,000 people.
Last Tuesday, SLO County's adjusted case rate was 15.6. It has dropped every week since the Southern California Regional Stay-at-Home order was lifted and the county returned to the purple tier.
The county's positivity rates also dropped this week, with both the overall positivity rate and the Healthy Places Index (HPI) positivity rate now at orange tier levels (3.2% and 3.8% respectively). Another week like this and the county could move into a less-restrictive tier.
County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein previously stated that SLO County could move out of the purple tier and into the red tier if both positivity rates remain at orange tier levels for two weeks. Otherwise, the county's adjusted case rate will have to hit 7 or lower.
San Luis Obispo County Public Health officials also reported 42 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the county's total to 19,500 confirmed cases as of February 23.
The county also added an additional COVID-19 related death. To date, SLO County has recorded 221 deaths attributed to the virus.
Health officials say 22 people are currently hospitalized. Another 596 are recovering at home and health officials say 18,642 people have recovered.
Nineteen of the 38 licensed and staffed ICU beds in the county are currently occupied. Seven of them are taken by COVID-19 patients.
Breakdown of cases by location:
- Paso Robles - 3,859
- San Luis Obispo - 3,660
- California Men's Colony (inmates) - 2,377
- Atascadero - 1,817
- Nipomo - 1,467
- Arroyo Grande - 1,375
- Grover Beach - 803
- Oceano - 669
- Templeton - 589
- San Miguel - 481
- Los Osos - 446
- Morro Bay - 400
- Cal Poly (campus residents) - 341
- Pismo Beach - 309
- Atascadero State Hospital (patients) - 206
- Cambria - 174
- Shandon - 138
- Santa Margarita - 128
- Creston - 80
- Cayucos - 68
- Avila Beach - 27
- San Simeon - 21
- Bradley - 7
The locations of 50 additional cases are under investigation, and another eight are listed as "other," which includes communities with fewer than five cases. The Public Health Department is not identifying those locations.
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.
San Luis Obispo County is currently vaccinating health care workers and residents 65 years of age 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.