Four additional COVID-19-related fatalities were reported on Friday, increasing Santa Barbara County’s death toll for the pandemic to 693 people.
Two of those who died were Orcutt residents, one lived in the Lompoc Valley, and one was a Santa Ynez Valley resident.
Two were 70+ years of age, one was in the 50-69 age group, and the other was in the 30-49 age group. Two had underlying health conditions, and none was associated with a congregate-care site.
Since the last report from the Public Health Department on Tuesday, there have been 507 new COVID-19-positive cases reported in the county.
That number does not include people who have tested positive at home but have not followed up with a PCR test.
There have been 1,170 new COVID-19 cases reported in the last seven days, an increase of nearly 11% from the previous week.
Conversely, hospitalization and intensive-care unit numbers have declined somewhat it recent days.
There were 23 COVID-19-positive patients in local hospitals on Friday, compared to 27 on Tuesday. Some of those patients may have tested positive while being treated for other medical conditions.
Three of the hospitalized patients were being treated in intensive-care units, compared to five on Tuesday.
Of the new novel coronavirus cases reported Friday, 124 are in the Santa Maria Valley, 111 are in the Santa Barbara area, and 89 are from the Goleta Valley.
There are 89 new cases in the Goleta Valley, 64 in Isla Vista, 56 in the Lompoc Valley, and 22 in the Lompoc Valley.
There are 20 new cases pending geographic locations.
The county’s 7-day community test positivity rate, which has a 4-day lag, rose to 10.7% on Friday, compared to 7.8% a week earlier.
Ongoing COVID-19 Outbreak at County Jail
There were 15 COVID-19-positive people in jail custody on Friday from an outbreak that began on May 25, according to Raquel Zick, public information officer for the county Sheriff’s Department.
Of those, eight people are in the Main Jail near Santa Barbara, and seven are in the Northern Branch Jail near Santa Maria.
Altogether, there have been 40 cases associated with this latest outbreak, but 25 have recovered.
Only one inmate has required hospitalization, Zick said, but has since been cleared to return to custody.
“As we identify COVID-19 positive inmates, they are moved into an area of the facility that has negative pressure cells,” Zick said. “The remainder are placed together in small groups (cohorts) and isolated from other inmates and monitored by Wellpath for symptoms.”
Jail visitation remained suspended, Zick added, and the jail staff is coordinating with the Santa Barbara Superior Court and the Public Defender’s Office to adjust court appearances to minimize the spread of the virus through the movement of inmates.
— 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.
