Two more COVID-19 deaths were reported Thursday in Santa Barbara County, along with 75 additional cases of the disease.
The people who died were both North County residents over 70 years of age, according to the county Public Health Department.
One was a resident in the unincorporated area of the Santa Maria Valley who lived in a congregate-care facility and had underlying health conditions. The other lived in Santa Maria but did not have underlying health conditions.
The latest fatalities bring the county’s COVID-19 death toll to 75, with positive cases now totaling 7,148.
Of the new cases reported Thursday, 32 were in the Santa Maria Valley, 14 were in Santa Barbara, nine were in Isla Vista and seven were in the Lompoc Valley.
The Santa Ynez Valley reported four cases, Goleta had three cases and geographic locations were pending on six cases.
There were 75 people being treated for COVID-19 in local hospitals, including 26 in intensive-care units.
Both of those numbers declined from the previous day, when they were 79 and 31, respectively.
Difference from previous day
Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Aug. 13
Total positive cases 7,148 + 75 COVID-19-related deaths 75 + 2 COVID-19 patients in county hospitals 75 – 4 COVID-19 ICU patients 26 -5 Total test results 93,033 + 2,274 Seven-day average test positivity rate 5.0% – 0.9%
The county’s daily positive-test rate based on 2,274 tests was 3 percent, while the seven-day rolling average was 5 percent.
Also on Thursday, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department reported that 11 additional inmates at the Main Jail near Santa Barbara had tested positive for COVID-19.
“These new cases were detected through follow-up from the four cases from general population that were reported in the press release from Monday, Aug. 3,” said Raquel Zick, a Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman.
Ten of the COVID-19-positive inmates are asymptomatic and being housed in double or triple cells together, while one inmate is symptomatic and being medically isolated in a negative air flow cell, Zick said.
The Sheriff’s Department has now reported 25 inmates who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
New cases reported Aug. 13 Active cases by area Total reported cases by area COVID-19 deaths reported by area South County: Montecito, Summerland, Carpinteria 0 3 165 6 Santa Barbara and Mission Canyon 14 37 942 7 Goleta 3 5 172 3 Isla Vista 9 17 103 0 Western Goleta Valley and Gaviota 0 5 125 1 Santa Ynez Valley 4 8 85 2 Lompoc, Vandenberg Village, Mission Hills 7 18 542 7 Lompoc federal correctional complex 0 0 1,019 3 Santa Maria 28 86 3,199 40 Orcutt 2 7 229 3 North County: Guadalupe, Cuyama, New Cuyama, Garey, Casmalia, Sisquoc 2 7 287 3 Pending location 6 14 280 0 Santa Barbara County total 75 207 7,148 75