SAN LUIS OBISPO — San Luis Obispo County Public Health officials reported 184 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, Dec. 15, and six coronavirus deaths.

It’s the fourth day in the past 10 that new cases topped 100, and the third time in the past seven, that number was more than 180.

Overall, SLO County has recorded 7,895 COVID-19 cases. The majority, 6,429, have recovered.

SLO County Public Health reported the six COVID-19 deaths on its Twitter account — the most the agency has reported in a single day.

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“Sadly, 6 more of our neighbors have succumbed to COVID-19, bringing number of deaths to 52. One person was in their 40s, four in their 80s, and one in their 90s. They were vulnerable to severe illness bc of underlying conditions. We must slow the spread and protect each other,” SLO Public Health tweeted Tuesday afternoon.

In the past seven days, SLO County has reported nine COVID-19 deaths.

SLO County Public Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein has been saying for the past couple of weeks her office knew of a half-dozen deaths that were likely due to COVID-19 but was waiting on the death certificate before officially reporting. The tweet did not indicate these were those deaths.

Borenstein said in her Dec. 9 weekly COVID-19 briefing, her office was aware of and dealing with roughly 20 outbreaks in the community — in skilled nursing facilities in long-term care units, some fire stations, and the California Men’s Colony.

Fifty-one new cases were reported Tuesday for CMC. Over the past 10 days, its COVID cases have increased by 156.

Fortunately, with the continued surge in new cases, SLO County’s hospitals are not being overwhelmed. There are 22 people hospitalized due to COVID-19, including seven in the intensive care unit.

North County communities accounted for 63 of the new cases reported on Tuesday — 30 in Paso Robles (1,868), 28 in Atascadero (725), two in San Miguel (248) and Santa Margarita (59), and one at the Atascadero State Hospital (25).

Paso Robles leads the County in total cases. It has added 228 cases in the past 10 days, and Atascadero’s total cases have increased by 124 during the same period.

San Luis Obispo had 22 new reported cases.