Santa Barbara County added 214 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, bringing the number of people infected by the disease to 16,476 since public health officials reported the first confirmed case in March.
The number of COVID-19-related fatalities in the county remained at 153, according to the Public Health Department‘s COVID-19 data dashboard.
There were 121 confirmed COVID-19 patients being treated in local hospitals, an increase compared to 117 the previous day.
Of those patients, 29 were in intensive-care units, a jump from 25 the previous day.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in California have increased 38% during the past two weeks, and statewide ICU admissions jumped 37% during the most recent 14-day period, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday at a press conference.
The latest state figures show there were nearly 20,000 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in California, with more than 4,225 residents in ICUs, Newsom said.
“Region by region, you are seeing a completely different story,” he said.
The majority of California is experiencing a plateauing of new hospital admissions, Newsom said.
However, the Southern California area continues to experience higher COVID-19 case rates, Newsom said.
Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties remain the “most impacted large counties” in California, he said.
The ICU availability in the multi-county Southern California region of the state, of which Santa Barbara is a part, remained at 0% for the twelfth consecutive day.
Santa Barbara County’s ICU bed availability dropped to 6.7% on Monday, down from 13.9% the previous day.
At the same time last week, the county’s ICU bed availability was 38.1%.
As of Monday, slightly more than 40% of the county’s total 71 ICU beds were being occupied by COVID-19 patients.
The lower number of ICU beds reflects staffing issues, according to county public health officials.
Cottage Health, which operates hospitals in Santa Barbara, Goleta and Santa Ynez, has updated reporting of ICU capacity to reflect current beds available with staffing and resources needed for patient care, spokeswoman Maria Zate told Noozhawk on Monday.
The capacity fluctuates based on the number of patients and available critical-care nursing staff, according to Zate.
“Staffing during this ongoing surge of COVID cases continues to be a challenge for hospitals throughout our region and our state, and we are seeing those same challenges locally,” Zate said in an email.
Cottage Health is caring for more than 255 patients across all campuses on Monday, according to Zate.
Of its 206 acute-care patients, Zate said, 65 are in isolation with COVID-19 symptoms and 60 are positive confirmed cases.
Of the 65 patients in isolation at Cottage Health, 15 are in critical care, Zate said Monday.
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital adult critical care available capacity is 26.7%, Zate said.
Marian Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria and Lompoc Valley Medical Center are not releasing similar daily information.
In addition, Cottage Health is temporarily reducing non-emergent inpatient admissions that require hospital beds and staffing while hospital officials prioritize surging urgent and emergent needs, Zate said.
Regional Stay-at-home Order
The stay-at-home order is triggered when the remaining ICU capacity drops below 15% in a given region.
The initial stay-at-home order was set for at least three weeks so regions could recover ICU capacity, Newsom said.
According to state guidance, regions in California are eligible to exit the stay-at-home order after “three weeks if their hospital ICU capacity projected four weeks out reaches 15%” or greater.
California officials on Tuesday are expected to announce hospital ICU bed capacity projections for the next four weeks. California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly and his team will make the official determination on Tuesday, Newsom said.
Newsom said the stay-at-home order for the Southern California region, which includes Santa Barbara County, will likely be extended because of the latest surge in some counties.
“It is clear and understandable that it’s likely those stay-at-home orders will be extended,” Newsom said.
The pandemic-related restrictions prompt travel and business rules, as well as prohibit gatherings with people outside your own household, among other limits.
Santa Barbara County was considered in the most-restrictive purple tier of the state’s color-coded reopening system before the regional stay-at-home-order went into effect on Dec. 6, with modifications on several indoor businesses.
New COVID-19 Cases
On Monday, the novel coronavirus spread across every geographic area of the county.
Of the new cases reported, 66 are in Santa Maria and 62 in Santa Barbara.
Fourteen each were tallied in Goleta and Lompoc, while the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota had 12, and Orcutt had 13.
There were seven in the Santa Ynez Valley and four in the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area.
The unincorporated areas of North County and Isla Vista each had two.
Eighteen cases were pending geographic location.
More than 840 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County as of Monday, according to public health officials.
The county’s seven-day rolling community positivity rate sat at 10.3%.
The county has logged 1,549 new COVID-19 cases over the last seven days, averaging just over 221 additional cases per day.
The county reported an additional 610 COVID-19 cases, plus two new deaths during the three-day winter holiday weekend.
Both individuals who died were over 70 years old and “had underlying medical conditions,” according to the Public Health Department.
The daily status report released on Dec. 26 offered vague residency locations for the two who died of COVID-19. Some geographic areas in the county are grouped together in the COVID-19 daily status report.
“Areas of residence include the city of Santa Barbara and unincorporated areas of Mission Canyon, and the city of Lompoc and communities of Mission Hills and Vandenberg Village,” public health said. “One of the deaths was associated with an outbreak at a congregate living facility.”
Click here to go to 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.
