By KAREN VELIE

For the second week in a row, San Luis Obispo County reported a slight increase in new COVID-19 cases, according to an Oct. 26 health department update.

Over the past four days, newly reported cases increased from a daily average of 37 on Oct. 22 to 42 on Oct. 26. The number of SLO County residents in hospitals receiving treatment for the virus increased 45%, with 16 currently hospitalized, four in intensive care.

Since last Friday, 135 SLO County residents tested positive for the coronavirus. Paso Robles leads with 18 new cases, followed by Arroyo Grande and San Luis Obispo with 15 each, Atascadero with 13 and Nipomo with 11.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 29,184 people in SLO County have tested positive for the virus and 339 have died.

There have been 4,777,317 positive cases, and 71,835 deaths in California.

More than 46,497,719 U.S. residents have tested positive for the virus, and 759,932 have died.

In addition, the number of people infected with the virus worldwide continues to increase: 245,321,425 cases with 4,979,605 dead.