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 the cases at the local level.
Local officials are reportedly investigating the matter now and expect the total number of confirmed cases in the country to exceed 10,000 by the end of the week.
Official health officials say the state has recently begun a new process to quickly assign suspicious cases to a jurisdiction. Those cases must then be investigated at the local level and reclassified by a local health official as a confirmed case to ensure the accuracy of local data.
“To ensure that we track cases accurately, the most important thing for us is to respond to the virus and slow down the spread,” said Dr. Penny Borenstein, health officer in the province, said. “Do not wait until the data is updated. Protect yourself and your community: wear a mask, do not get together, stay home when you are sick, and let yourself be tested.”
Health officials say the state’s new case reporting process has no bearing on the number of cases admitted to the hospital, or the number of deaths reported locally.
San Luis Obispo Province currently has its highest number of active cases at 2,093. Fifty-nine people are in the hospital, including 12 patients who are in the ICU. According to the health department, this is also the country’s highest number of hospital cases.
San Luis Obispo County on Tuesday reported 63 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the province’s total to 9,602 confirmed cases since the onset of the pandemic.
The deaths of 74 provincial residents are attributed to COVID-19 infection.
Visit readyslo.org for more information on the country’s COVID-19 response.