Santa Barbara County Reports 77 New COVID-19 Cases, with Almost Half in Santa Maria | Coronavirus Crisis
Santa Barbara County Public Health Department officials announced 77 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the total to 5,836.
There were 79 COVID-19 patients in local hospitals, including 24 patients in intensive care units.
Of the new cases on Monday, 27 people who tested positive for COVID-19 were between the ages of 18 to 29, and 21 people were between the ages of 30 to 49.
There were 308 active cases in the county, and 94 percent of those who have contracted the virus have fully recovered on Monday.
There were no newly confirmed COVID-19-related deaths in the county, with the total remaining at 32. The county’s last death was reported on July 15.
Of the new cases on Monday, 38 were in Santa Maria, 11 were in Lompoc and three in the unincorporated areas of the North County and Guadalupe.
Both Santa Barbara and the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area reported five new cases.
Goleta, Isla Vista, the unincorporated areas of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota Coast, as well as Orcutt, each reported one new case.
Geographic locations were pending on 11 cases.
There were 589 COVID-19 test results reported countywide on Monday. Of that number, 497 had a negative result.
The county’s daily positivity rate for coronavirus on Monday was 13.4 percent, according to the latest numbers provided by the Public Health Department.
Over the weekend, 183 total new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the county — 142 on Saturday and 41 on Sunday.
Statewide hospital and ICU admission numbers for COVID patients are still increasing, but at a lower rate compared to two or three weeks ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said during a news conference Monday.
Locally, it’s been in the range between 74 to 86 people in hospitals over the past two weeks.
The statewide positivity rate is at an average of 7.5 percent for the past 14 days, and Santa Barbara County’s seven-day rolling average of community positive rate is 10.2 percent as of Monday.
The average daily deaths in the state have increased from 91 last week to 109, according to figures released by Newsom on Monday.
Over the past week, county Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg ordered people in Santa Barbara County to wear face coverings when in high-risk situations that may contribute to the spread of COVID-19.
Ansorg’s order is intended to align with the California Department of Public Health’s guidelines on wearing masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some local salons have been scrambling to adapt to the evolving coronavirus orders after the governor announced new statewide guidelines permitting some personal-care services to continue certain operations outside.
Last week, Newsom authorized reopening for nail salons, hair salons, barbershops and massage parlors if they move their operations outdoors. The announcement came just a week after he ordered more business closures in counties on California’s coronavirus watch list, which include Santa Barbara County.
Earlier in July, Newsom ordered brewpubs, breweries, bars and pubs to close all operations both indoor and outdoor statewide — unless the business is are offering outdoor, sit-down dining.
Speaking during a briefing last week, the deputy executive director of the nonprofit human service organization Family Service Agency said he believes “cultural values” and dedication to family often lead to official guidance not being followed in the Santa Maria Valley during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Lompoc federal prison complex reported no new cases of COVID-19 over the past three days.
The Lompoc prison had 1,011 total confirmed COVID-19 cases, and 1,008 recovered cases as of Monday.
Last week, a watchdog released a report outlining several factors that contributed to the outbreak at the prison complex.
Titled “Remote Inspection of Federal Correctional Complex Lompoc,” the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Justice’s report stated ineffective screening of infected employees, a lack of stable leadership, staffing shortages and a delay diagnosing an inmate with COVID-19 symptoms contributed to the outbreak.
“Lompoc’s initial COVID-19 screening process was not fully effective,” the report stated. “We identified two staff members who came to work in late March after experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and whose symptoms were not detected in the screening process to preclude them from working.”
Click here to read the county Public Health Department’s information on coronavirus and COVID-19.
Click here for Noozhawk’s Coronavirus section.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
| Santa Barbara County Public Health Department | July 27 |
Difference from previous day |
| Total positive cases | 77 | +36 |
| COVID-19-related deaths | 32 | 0 |
| COVID-19 patients in county hospitals | 79 | -1 |
| COVID-19 ICU patients | 24 | 0 |
| Total test results | 73,292 | +589 |
| Seven-day average test positivity rate | 10.2% | +0.8 |
| New cases reported July 27 | Active cases by area | Total reported cases by area | |
| South County: Montecito, Summerland, Carpinteria | 5 | 13 | 120 |
| Santa Barbara and Mission Canyon | 5 | 37 | 706 |
| Goleta | 1 | 8 | 131 |
| Isla Vista | 1 | 2 | 41 |
| Western Goleta Valley and Gaviota | 1 | 5 | 97 |
| Santa Ynez Valley | 0 | 5 | 66 |
| Lompoc, Vandenberg Village, Mission Hills | 11 | 31 | 415 |
| Lompoc federal correctional complex | 0 | 0 | 1,011 |
| Santa Maria | 38 | 164 | 2,622 |
| Orcutt | 1 | 7 | 187 |
| North County: Guadalupe, Cuyama, New Cuyama, Garey, Casmalia, Sisquoc | 3 | 13 | 237 |
| Pending location | 11 | 23 | 203 |
| Santa Barbara County total | 77 | 308 | 5,836 |
