COVID-19 cases in Santa Barbara County have risen modestly over the past week, while coronavirus-related hospitalization are up only slightly.
For the seven days ending Friday, the county Public Health Department reported 992 new COVID-19 cases, nearly 18% more than the total for the previous week, according to data compiled by Noozhawk.
Since the last reporting on Tuesday, there have been 528 new cases reported: 192 on Wednesday, 172 on Thursday, and 164 on Friday.
The actually number of new COVID-19 cases undoubtedly is higher, as many people are finding out they have the virus through home test kit results, which are not reported to the county.
As of Friday, there were 39 COVID-19-positive patients being treated at local hospitals, a number unchanged from the begining of the week. Of those, five were in intensive-care units.
Some of the virus-positive patients are in the hospital due to other medical conditions.
Of the new cases reported Wednesday through Friday, 159 if them are among people in the Santa Maria Valley, 123 are in the Goleta Valley, and 84 are in the Santa Barbara area.
There are 62 new cases in the Lompoc Valley, 25 in the Santa Ynez Valley, 23 in Isla Vista, and 19 in the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area.
Geographic locations were pending on 32 cases.
The county’s community test positivity rate, which has a four-day lag, rose to 13% as of Monday, the highest it has been since Feb. 11.
No new COVID-related deaths have been reported since last Friday.
Santa Maria Fairpark Vaccine Clinic Closing
Citing a significant decrease in demand, the county Public Health Department announced that the Santa Maria Fairpark vaccination clinic will be closing on June 29.
“This location opened over a year ago … and has since served the greater Santa Maria community with nearly 20,000 vaccinations administered,” the county said in a press release. “This site has been a critical component of the overall COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategy in Santa Barbara County.”
The fairpark will continue to host a Test to Treat site, with COVID-19 testing and healthcare providers who can write antiviral prescriptions to people who test positive for COVID-19.
Options for vaccinations in Santa Maria will remain available through healthcare providers and pharmacies.
To find your nearest vaccination site for your primary series or boosters, visit https://www.vaccines.gov/.
— 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.