Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted the COVID-19 regional stay-at-home orders for the entire state on Monday, ending the restrictions that have been in place for nearly seven weeks.
The California Department of Public Health said most counties, including Santa Barbara, will revert to the color-coded tier system, and most are in the most-restrictive purple tier.
“While there are positive signs that the virus is spreading at a slower rate across the state, the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over,” CDPH officials said in a statement Monday.
“It is still critical that Californians continue to wear masks when they leave their homes, maintain physical distance of at least 6 feet, wash their hands frequently, avoid gatherings and mixing with other households, follow all state and local health department guidance, and get the vaccine when it’s their turn.”
In the purple tier, most indoor operations will have to remain closed in Santa Barbara County, including restaurants, gyms, movie theaters, places of worship, and family entertainment centers.
Outdoor restaurant dining will likely be allowed to reopen, and hair and nail salons likely will be allowed to operate indoors with restrictions.
The county Public Health Department said it is reviewing the state guidance and “any changes to businesses permitted to open will be reflected in a local health officer order.”
Santa Barbara County was part of the large Southern California region for the stay-at-home order, which reported 0.0% capacity for its overall hospital intensive-care units for more than a month.
The county’s adjusted rate was only slightly higher on Sunday — at 0.8%.
Under the stay-at-home order, the region would have remained locked down until ICU availability increased past 15%.
In their statement, CDPH officials said 4-week projections showed ICU capacity rising above that threshold.
Newsom’s decision comes as hospitalization and ICU numbers appear to be improving — both locally and in the region — as the effects of gatherings and travel over the holidays begin to ease.
As of Sunday night, Santa Barbara County had 185 COVID-19 patients being treated in local hospitals, with 46 requiring intensive care.
By comparison, there were 211 coronavirus patients hospitalized on Jan. 12, and 60 in ICUs on Jan. 8 — both the highest numbers for the county.
When the stay-at-home order was issued, Santa Barbara County had moved back to the most-restrictive purple tier under the state’s system, which is based on test-positivity and case rates.
Even though the order was lifted, the county still has a long way to go to move from the purple tier (which denotes that the virus is widespread) to the red tier (substantial virus spread).
As of Sunday, the county was reporting a daily adjusted new case rate of 64.6 cases per 100,000 residents.
To exit the purple tier, the county would need to get that number down to fewer than seven cases. The county last met the level on Nov. 2.
The county peaked at more than 93 cases per 100,000 on Jan. 9.
Newsom’s stay-at-home order was issued Dec. 6, with one of the biggest impacts being the ban on outdoor dining at restaurants, which had provided a lifeline for many of them to keep their doors open.
In the more than a month since, there has been considerable push-back from restaurants and patrons alike, with many asserting that there is no evidence that outdoor dining has contributed to the surge in COVID-19 cases.
Public health officials have countered that activities that presented less risk a few months ago — such as outdoor dining — have become much more dangerous with the surge in virus cases.
Santa Barbara County reported 307 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, but no new deaths.
— 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.