All county residents, regardless of vaccination status, will be required to wear face coverings in public indoor settings beginning Friday evening as the circulating Delta variant has caused a “dramatic increase” in COVID-19 cases countywide, the Public Health Department announced with a new health officer order on Wednesday.
“Requiring indoor masking is the least disruptive strategy and can make an immediate impact on limiting the spread of COVID-19, specifically the Delta variant,” said Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg in a statement.
“This health officer order is intended to protect everyone to the greatest extent possible, from the substantial spread of the virus being seen now in our community. In addition, the order is intended to support the continued operations of local businesses, activities, and schools.”
Public Health officials plan to hold an informational briefing about the new health officer order at 11 a.m. Thursday, and it will be broadcast live on the county YouTube page.
The order will take effect Friday night at 5 p.m. and requires all individuals to be masked while in indoor public settings, with limited exceptions such as while working alone in a closed office or room, while actively eating or drinking, or while engaged in water-based sports where masks create an imminent risk to health, according to the order.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have confirmed preliminary data that fully vaccinated people who become infected with the Delta variant can still be infectious and spread the virus to others, according to the county’s COVID-19 Joint Information Center.
Over the past two weeks, the county’s active cases have “increased significantly” with a case rate of 12.4 daily new cases per 100,000 people (more than 55 cases per day) and a 6.8% testing positivity rate, according to Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso.
On Wednesday, Public Health reported 104 new cases of the virus.
If the state’s color-coded reopening tier system was still in place, the county would be classified in the most-restrictive widespread purple tier.
The health officer order for indoor, universal masking is consistent with the California Department of Public Health and CDC’s recommendations that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors while in public settings due to the surge in cases statewide and nationwide. Unvaccinated people have always been required to wear masks indoors in public.
Capacity restrictions, physical distancing, and other public health measures from the state’s reopening tier system are not expected to return.
Also due to the rising number of cases locally, the City of Goleta announced on Wednesday that it will be returning to virtual-only city council meetings beginning with the next meeting on Aug. 17.
“We are disappointed to not be able to continue to host these meetings in-person, but the health and safety of our community is a top priority,” said Goleta spokesman Jaime Shaw. “With the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in the county, we feel that this is the best decision for now.”
Public Health Reports 104 New Cases Wednesday, Releases Breakdown By Vaccination Status
With the addition of the 104 new cases reported on Wednesday, Public Health has reported an average of almost 81 new cases per day over the last seven days, according to data tracking done by Noozhawk.
Just over half of Wednesday’s new cases were among people younger than 30, according to Public Health.
The Public Health Department released a new chart on its data dashboard breaking down new positive cases by vaccination status, going back to May 2021.
For the week ending Friday, the last day with information available, the county reported 321 people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Of these new cases, 229 were among unvaccinated people and 92 were among fully vaccinated people, according to the county.
Fully vaccinated people now represent the majority of Santa Barbara County residents, with about 238,600 people out of an estimated countywide population of 460,000. Thousands more have received at least one dose of the vaccine and are partially vaccinated.
About 220,000 people are unvaccinated, including an estimated 67,000 children under the age of 12 who are not eligible, according to calculations on the Public Health data dashboard.
The Lompoc Valley accounted for 26 of Wednesday’s new cases, and the Santa Maria Valley accounted for 22. The Goleta Valley reported 17 new cases, Santa Barbara tallied 12, the Santa Ynez Valley added nine, Isla Vista reported five, and the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area logged three.
Ten cases were still pending geographic location.
COVID-19 hospitalizations increased to 34 on Wednesday, with five of those patients being treated in intensive-care units.
There were no COVID-19-related deaths reported on Wednesday, and the county’s cumulative death toll remained at 464.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
