Santa Barbara County Public Health officials on Wednesday reported 40 new COVID-19 cases, and said 23 confirmed COVID-19 patients were being treated in local hospitals, which is the highest daily total since Oct. 12.
To date, the county has tallied 11,205 positive COVID-19 cases and 135 related deaths.
No additional virus-related deaths were reported Wednesday.
There have been 509 new cases reported during the past three days in the county, for an average of 72.7 per day, according to the Public Health Department.
Of the new cases reported Wednesday, there were 14 reported in Santa Barbara, 13 in Lompoc, four in Goleta, three in Orcutt and two in Isla Vista. Santa Maria and the Santa Ynez Valley each reported one new case, and two had a pending location.
County public health officials are encouraging residents to stay local for the Thanksgiving holiday because of the increased transmission of the virus throughout the state and country.
New daily cases, the test positivity rate (how many people who get tested have a positive result) and hospitalizations are all increasing right now, according to public health officials.
Under the state’s reopening system, the county is in the most-restrictive purple tier, meaning COVID-19 is “widespread” in the community.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department has stopped providing updates on local COVID-19 cases on weekends and holidays, so daily status reports will not be posted Thursday through Sunday.
The county is expected to provide its next update on COVID-19 cases Monday evening.
Click here for Noozhawk’s Coronavirus Crisis section.
Click here to access the county’s COVID-19 data dashboard.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
