The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department on Monday reported 298 new COVID-19 cases since Friday. It is the largest number of active cases recorded in the county in three months.
The number of coronavirus-positive hospital patients remains low and stable although other COVID-19 metrics have been increasing, including the number of new positive cases, test positivity rate and the number of active cases reported by the Public Health Department.
These same metrics have been increasing statewide in recent weeks, according to the California Department of Public Health.
As of Monday, there were 12 coronavirus-positive patients in local hospitals, including two being treated in intensive-care units.
The county’s Community Data Dashboard reported a 4.8% test positivity rate last week, slightly higher than the reported rate in California.
Santa Barbara County reported 110 new cases on Saturday, 82 on Sunday and 106 on Monday.
There were 684 active COVID-19 cases, which is the number people who recently tested positive and are still considered infectious.
That number is a 31% increase from the previous two-week average of 523, the Public Health Department says. The number is also almost certainly an undercount, since the agency does not collect or report test results from rapid, at-home antigen tests.
Santa Barbara has the highest number of active cases, with 179 as of Monday.
Hover over the graphic below to view the daily reported numbers of active cases in Santa Barbara County since July 2020.
Next week, the Public Health Department will start reporting local coronavirus-related information to its data dashboard twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, rather than five days a week, according to county officials.
Noozhawk will continue to monitor public health data and report dashboard-based stories twice a week.
— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.