COVID-19: County creating roadmap to ‘get back to normal’, nearly 80-percent of cases recovered

Posted: 6:45 am, April 11, 2020 by Editor Skye Pratt

County reports 107 cases, 83 recovered

–The County of San Luis Obispo has reported 107 positive cases of COVID-19. 83 people have fully recovered. Three remain hospitalized, 2 remain in the ICU. One person has died from the virus. Nearly 80-percent have recovered.

The community is succeeding at flattening the curve so as to not overwhelm our healthcare facilities, according to County Administrative Officer Wade Horton, and has three things in place now that were needed in order to start looking at lifting protection measures: The Cal Poly site, increased ventilator supply with more on the way, as well as an order in for a high throughput testing machine capable of processing 500 tests per day. County officials are now creating a “roadmap to transition,” that will help some businesses in the county get “back to normal as soon as possible, while still slowing the spread of the virus.”

“We are getting through this,” said Horton.

District Attorney Dan Dow warned the county about scammers. He talked about a phone scam that many residents reported last week involving the purchase of gift cards to post bail. Another scam was reported where the callers were reportedly contacting seniors saying they must purchase a gift card to pay the county for food delivery. He warned the public to be diligent about not sharing personal information and be on the lookout for anything that seems suspicious, such as asking for gift cards.

The San Luis Obispo County Health Department is live streaming updates on their Facebook page multiple times per week.

Dr. Penny Borenstein discussing the new statistics on the livestream.

Distribution of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County

Paso Robles reported COVID-19 cases: 29
Atascadero reported COVID-19 cases: 21
Arroyo Grande reported COVID-19 cases: 14
City of San Luis Obispo reported COVID-19 cases: 10
Morro Bay reported COVID-19 cases: 6
Templeton reported COVID-19 cases: 6
Nipomo reported COVID-19 cases: 6
Other San Luis Obispo County reported COVID-19 cases: 15

Ages of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County

Age 0-17 years old – 4
Age 18-49 years old – 41
Age 50 – 64 years – 30
Age 65 and older – 32

Cases of COVID-19 by status in San Luis Obispo County

At home – 20
Hospitalized – 3, 2 in ICU
Recovered – 83
Deaths – 1

Source of transmission of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County

Travel related transmission – 39
Known person-to-person transmission – 38
Unknown community-acquired transmission – 29
Unknown – 1

Number of people tested for COVID-19 in San Luis Obispo County

As of Thursday, the county reports conducting 639 COVID-19 tests. An unknown number of residents have been tested by private labs, the county reports. In addition, 63 cases have been detected at private labs. Private labs doing testing include WestPac Labs, Quest Diagnostics, Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories, LabCorp, VRDL.

What is the cause of COVID-19 transmission?

–Transmission of the COVID-19 virus appears to be caused by close and prolonged contact, Borenstein said. The greater the illness has affected someone, the more likely they are to transmit it to other people, she said. Asymptomatic transmission, if occurring at all, is a minor proportion of infections, she said. Airborne infection appears to be limited to someone infected who coughs or sneezes and vapor droplets may linger for a short period of time. But neither asymptomatic transmission nor airborne transmission appear to be a dominant means of transmission, she said. The virus does tend to transfer well with human contacts, like shaking hands, and linger on hard surfaces, studies have shown.

How people can protect themselves

Every person has a role to play. Protecting yourself and your family comes down to common sense:

Staying home except for essential activities – “Shelter at home“
Washing hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds.
Avoiding touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands.
Cover a cough or sneeze with your sleeve, or disposable tissue. Wash your hands afterward.
Avoiding close contact with people who are sick.
Staying away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough.
Practicing social distancing.
Following guidance from public health officials.

What to do if you think you’re sick

Call ahead: If you are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 (fever, cough or shortness of breath) and may have had contact with a person with COVID-19, or recently traveled to countries with apparent community spread, call your health care provider before seeking medical care so that appropriate precautions can be taken.

San Luis Obispo County’s urgent communicable disease line is (805) 781-4553.