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SLO Co. lands on state's COVID-19 watch list, public health says

Posted at 12:43 PM, Jul 13, 2020
and last updated 2020-07-13 15:43:35-04

San Luis Obispo County is now on the state's COVID-19 watch list after a rise in cases over the past two weeks, according to the County Public Health Department.

Last week, county officials warned that such action was likely to happen after SLO County exceeded the state's COVID-19 case rate criteria.

Health officials say the county has seen a rate of about 114 cases per 100,000 population and the state's threshold is no more than 100 cases per 100,000 population.

The county is still meeting other metrics, however, including testing and hospitalization rates and the availability of hospital beds.

County officials say certain businesses should prepare to close, pending a state order.

Previously, Governor Gavin Newsom ordered counties that were on the monitoring list for more than three days to close bars, wineries, indoor restaurant dining, movie theaters, card rooms, and certain other indoor activities.

On Monday, he ordered all counties across the state to close those business sectors. He ordered counties on the state's monitoring list for more than three days to close additional businesses, including personal care services, hair salons, barbershops, fitness centers, places of worship, indoor protests, malls, and offices for non-critical infrastructure sectors.

As of Monday afternoon, San Luis Obispo County was not included in the monitoring list on the state's COVID-19 website; however, Gov. Newsom said additional counties would likely be added in the coming days.