COVID-19’s Omicron XBB. 1.5 is the dominant variant of the virus in California and along the West Coast, and the most contagious yet, with NPR reporting that it “almost certainly” will cause a surge in the number of cases.

During the last seven days, COVID-19 cases have increased 6.4%, according to the Santa Barbara County Dashboard Tracker. This is an underreporting because at-home tests often go unreported. 

The county reports a seven-day average of 65.29 cases a day in the week that ended Thursday.

As of Thursday, The New York Times reported 470 cases of COVID-19 and zero deaths within the past week.

There were 43 COVID-19-positive patients hospitalized throughout the county and eight COVID-19-positive patients in intensive-care units.

Santa Barbara County remains in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s low COVID-19 community level. However, transmission levels — the rate at which people are being infected with the virus — are high in the county, according to the COVID-19 transmission rate metric.

As of Thursday, 316,550 people have received their primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the statewide vaccine tracker, which is 69.8% of residents. Additionally, 22.3% of residents have received the bivalent booster shot.

Bivalent booster shots are available to children as young as 6 months. To find out more information on where to get tested or vaccinated, visit publichealthsbc.org.