Santa Barbara County Public Health officials reported 175 new cases of COVID-19 over the last three days.
There were 80 cases reported Saturday, 48 cases Sunday and 47 cases reported Monday, according to the county Community Data Dashboard.
No additional fatalities from the virus were reported over the last three days, with the death toll through the pandemic remaining at 461 residents.
The county’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased to 35,421, with 34,637 of them, or nearly 98%, having recovered as of Monday.
There were 323 active cases of the virus in the county on Monday, which is the number of people who recently tested positive and are still infectious with COVID-19.
That’s the highest daily number since early March, when the county reported 356 active cases on March 4.
The county’s COVID-19 hospitalizations dropped to 16 on Monday, from 23 on Sunday, according to the data dashboard.
There were three patients requiring treatment in intensive-care units on Monday, a decline from four on Sunday.
Of the latest cases added over the past three days, the Santa Barbara area had 46, while 23 were in the Lompoc Valley, 21 were in Santa Maria, 18 were in Goleta, 17 were in Orcutt, and 11 were in the Santa Ynez Valley.
The Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area reported nine new cases over the past three days and Isla Vista and the Goleta Valley each had 10.
Geographic locations were pending on four cases.
Over the past three days, public health officials reported no new COVID-19 cases in the North County unincorporated areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and the city of Guadalupe.
The county Public Health Department reported that more than 61% of the county’s eligible population (age 12 or older) were fully vaccinated as of Sunday, and nearly 52% of all residents have been fully vaccinated.
As of Sunday, the county has reported administering more than 482,500 vaccine doses.
On the South Coast, Cottage Health’s drive-up vaccination clinic at Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital will close after Thursday’s session.
The final clinic will take place between 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday at 351 S. Patterson Ave. on the corner of Hollister Avenue.
Vaccine appointments are available, but not required. Walk-ins are welcome.
Click here to schedule an appointment for Cottage Health’s Thursday clinic.
The first or second dose will be offered at the clinic, Cottage Health said.
For first shots administered after July 8, the second dose can be completed by another provider following the recommended three-week interval between doses, according to Cottage Health.
People can find a COVID-19 vaccine provider on the county website, publichealthsbc.org/vaccine, or at myturn.ca.gov. Some facilities offer walk-ups as well as appointments.
Vaccination Requirements for State Employees and Healthcare Workers
California officials on Monday announced that the state will require “all state workers and workers in healthcare and high-risk congregate settings to either show proof of full vaccination or be tested at least once per week, and encourage all local government and other employers to adopt a similar protocol,” according to a statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.
The new policy for state workers will take effect beginning Aug. 2, and COVID-19 testing will be “phased in over the next few weeks,” according to the state.
The new policy for healthcare workers and congregate facilities will take effect Aug. 9, and healthcare facilities will have until Aug. 23 “to come into full compliance,” the statement said.
California will require healthcare settings to verify that workers are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or tested for the virus regularly.
Unvaccinated workers will be subject to at least weekly COVID-19 testing and will be required to wear appropriate personal protective equipment.
Additionally, the requirement applies to high-risk congregate settings such as adult and senior residential facilities, homeless shelters and jails, the statement said.
“We are now dealing with a pandemic of the unvaccinated, and it’s going to take renewed efforts to protect Californians from the dangerous Delta variant,” Newsom said. “As the state’s largest employer, we are leading by example and requiring all state and healthcare workers to show proof of vaccination or be tested regularly, and we are encouraging local governments and businesses to do the same.
“Vaccines are safe – they protect our family, those who truly can’t get vaccinated, our children and our economy,” he continued. “Vaccines are the way we end this pandemic.”
The Delta variant, a more contagious form of the virus, was first discovered in the United States in March, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Monday, at least 1,474 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County since the first local positive confirmed case in March 2020. The daily number of positive healthcare workers increased by 13 over the weekend.
California health departments have reported 115,650 confirmed positive cases in healthcare workers and more than 480 deaths statewide as of Sunday, according to the state Department of Public Health.
Click here to read stories in Noozhawk’s Coronavirus Crisis section.
— 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.
