COVID-19: SLO County reports 83 cases, Cal Poly hospital to open next week, 25 ventilators on way
–On Wednesday, April 1, at noon, the County of San Luis Obispo updated the community on the COVID-19 pandemic. At this time, 83 local residents have tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus. That’s three more cases than reported Tuesday and appears to continue several days of a moderate rate of new infections in this area. The county reports that 37 local patients have now recovered from the virus, two are in intensive care units, with eight more hospitalized, and 36 are at home.
There are 43 cases in North San Luis Obispo County, 22 cases in Paso Robles, 15 cases in Atascadero, and six cases in Templeton. By early Thursday morning, there were at least 9,907 cases and 216 deaths in the State of California and 216,722 cases and 5,137 deaths in the United States, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The county is planning to have its Cal Poly field hospital, called the Alternative Care Site, ready to open on April 8. The county has at least 200 volunteers in its Medical Reserve Corps ready to help staff the facility; though, there are concerns that Governor Gavin Newsom may re-assign those volunteers elsewhere in the state.
The Alternative Care Site is expected to open with 165 beds and be able to scale to 935 beds. It will be a step-down facility to treat COVID-19 patients who do not need intensive care or ventilators, but oxygen therapy will be available at the site.
County Emergency Services Director Wade Horton issued an alert to residents to keep recreation to their surrounding neighborhoods and avoid close contact with others not in their immediate family unit. He said there were 50 people recently crowding the Los Osos Skate Park recently, and people too close to each other on hiking trails, such as the Bob Jones Trail. He said the county will shut down more facilities if the public is not maintaining physical distance from each other, also called social distancing.
The county has purchased 25 ventilators and is expecting them to arrive on April 13. County hospitals currently have 60 ventilators. Ventilators are a key medical intervention for patients with the worst symptoms of COVID-19 coronavirus disease, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
“We still have original 100 ventilator order that we made initially, and of that order we are supposed to get 30 first, then an additional 70 and are not canceling that order until we have the currently ordered 25 ventilators on hand,” said County Supervisor Lynn Compton. “We also have another 30 requested through CalOES Mutual Aid.”
Related story: COVID-19: Rate of infection higher in SLO County than most of state
Information as of 1 p.m., April 1:
Distribution of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County
- Paso Robles reported COVID-19 cases: 22
- Atascadero reported COVID-19 cases: 15
- Arroyo Grande reported COVID-19 cases: 12
- City of San Luis Obispo reported COVID-19 cases: 9
- Morro Bay reported COVID-19 cases: 6
- Templeton reported COVID-19 cases: 6
- Nipomo reported COVID-19 cases: 5
- Other San Luis Obispo County reported COVID-19 cases: 8
Ages of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County
- Age 0-17 years old – 3
- Age 18-49 years old – 34
- Age 50-64 – 22
- Age 65 years or older – 24
Cases of COVID-19 by status in San Luis Obispo County
- At home – 40
- Hospitalized – 10
- Of those hospitalized in intensive care – 2
- Recovered – 30
- Deaths – 0
Source of transmission of COVID-19 cases in San Luis Obispo County
- Travel related transmission – 31
- Known person-to-person transmission – 25
- Unknown community-acquired transmission –17
- Unknown – 7
Cases of COVID-19 by testing laboratory
- SLO County Public Health Lab – 39
- Private labs – 44
Private labs doing testing include WestPac Labs, Quest Diagnostics, Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories, LabCorp, VRDL. As of Monday afternoon, the county reports conducting 454 COVID-19 tests. An unknown number of residents have been tested by private labs, the county reports.
Regional COVID-19 coronavirus cases by county
Information posted as of 5 a.m., April 2:
- Monterey County cases – 42 confirmed, 2 deaths, 616 tested
- San Benito County cases – 23 confirmed, 5 recovered, 1 death, 253 tested
- Fresno County cases – 82 confirmed, 325 tested
- Kings County cases – 4 confirmed, 99 tested
- Kern County cases – 110 confirmed, 1 death, 3,245 tested
- Santa Barbara County cases – 99 confirmed, 22 recovered, 799 tested
- Ventura County cases – 149 confirmed, 30 hospitalized, 5 deaths, 2,987 tested
- Los Angeles County cases – 3,011 confirmed, 54 deaths, at least 19,000 tested
Recent SLO County COVID-19 coronavirus updates
- COVID-19 update from SLO County Superintendent of Schools
- Heritage Ranch reports case of COVID-19
- County asks pet owners to prepare care plans
- SLO County earns a ‘C’ in cutting back on daily travel
- Staff of Paso Robles Schools delivers uplifting message: ‘We’re all in this together’
- Operations limited at SLO County Courts
- Chamber of Commerce issues business update on COVID-19
- Closures to piers, beach parking lots, campgrounds, and parks.
- Plans to create a field hospital by April 8 at Cal Poly with 400-700 beds
- Call for volunteers to dramatically increase the county’s Medical Reserve Corps
Additional information from government agencies:
Governor issues order providing for expedited resources for COVID-19 response
SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today signed an executive order that allows for the immediate use of funds to support the state’s continuing efforts to protect public health and respond to the COVID-19 crisis.
The executive order facilitates expenditures from the state’s Disaster Response-Emergency Operations Account, a subaccount of the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties in the General Fund – the state’s traditional budget reserve – as well as from any other legally available fund to help with the COVID-19 response.
At the Governor’s direction, on March 25, 2020, the Department of Finance transferred $1.3 billion from the Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties, the state’s traditional budget reserve, into the DREOA subaccount in preparation to pay for costs associated with the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this transfer and the $99 million available balance, a total of $1.4 billion is now available in DREOA.
In addition, the Legislature enacted SB 89 prior to adjourning last month. This legislation signed by the Governor created an additional mechanism to provide up to $1 billion General Fund for expenditures related to the COVID-19 emergency.
Most of the state’s expenditures associated with the COVID-19 response are expected to be largely reimbursed by the federal government.
Governor announces agreement between teachers, classified employees and school system management to support student instruction
SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced a major agreement between teachers, classified employees, school boards, superintendents, and principals to work together to provide distance learning to California’s students as a result of school closures due to mitigation efforts against the COVID-19 outbreak. The agreement means more kids will be able to get school resources, such as quality distance instruction, and empowers teachers to create lessons within clear parameters.
“While schools might be physically closed, class is still in session,” said Governor Newsom. “This agreement is good news for students and parents, and the announcement means that more California kids will have tools to learn at home during this crisis.”
“The labor and management groups understand the importance of all of us working together during this unprecedented time. The framework for this collaboration created jointly, models how we can all come together to better serve our students,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond.
The agreement includes a collaboration framework for school employers and employees to work together on matters of labor and management to minimize any impact to students—including direction on implementation and delivery of distance learning, special education, and meals through the end of the school year. Endorsing organizations include the following: California Department of Education, Association of California School Administrators, California Teachers Association, California School Boards Association, California Federation of Teachers, California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, California School Employees Association, California Association of School Business Officials, Service Employees International Union, Small School Districts’ Association, AFSCME California, and the California Labor Federation.
The Governor also announced a partnership with Google to provide mobile hotspots and Chromebooks to students in rural areas to facilitate distance learning. Specifically, Google will be donating Chromebooks and will fund the use of 100,000 donated mobile hotspots to provide free and unlimited high-speed Internet connectivity for the remainder of the school year. The California Department of Education will be distributing these resources, prioritizing rural communities.
“I am so proud of every sector of our state—private, public, labor—coming together to meet this moment, and I am calling on other companies to match Google’s investment today to ensure our students and teachers have the resources they need to continue their education during this time,” said Governor Newsom.
“We at California State PTA stand behind the Governor in his efforts to keep children, families, and school staff safe during this crisis. We concur with the Governor that quality distance learning, meals for students, and the care and supervision of children are top priorities in the coming months. Efforts to provide internet access are particularly important for our underserved communities. Parents and caregivers throughout California are performing multiple roles during this crisis, and the Governor’s expression of appreciation for their extraordinary efforts is very well received by PTA,” said Celia Jaffe, President of the California State PTA.
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.
- Follow all local COVID-19 coronavirus news updates
- San Luis Obispo County COVID-19 website – readyslo.org
