[Editor’s note: Noozhawk’s weekly COVID-19 email newsletter is delivered to subscribers on Wednesdays. You can sign up here. We are republishing the newsletters on the website so more readers have access to them.]

Welcome to Noozhawk’s Weekly COVID-19 Briefing. 

I’m Noozhawk staff writer Grace Kitayama with the latest COVID-19 news in Santa Barbara County.

This newsletter is a way for Noozhawk readers to get important updates in one place. 

It is emailed out every Wednesday, for free, to everyone who subscribes.

Here’s What We Know

• The number of newly reported COVID-19 cases increased by 5.9% in the week ending Feb. 2, according to weekly summaries for Santa Barbara County’s COVID-19 Dashboard Data. This is likely an underreporting because rapid at-home COVID-19 tests are often not reported to the county. To report your at-home test result, visit makemytestcount.org.
• In the week ending Friday, the county Public Health Department reported one coronavirus-related death of a local resident, bringing the total number of such deaths to 760 in the county.
• The COVID-19 Community Level remains “low” in the county, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calculates the metric based on virus transmission and hospitalization rates. Transmission rates in the county are in the “substantial” range, according to the CDC.
• The test positivity is 5.8%, a slight decrease from the previous week.
• As of Friday, there were 19 coronavirus-positive patients in local hospitals with four of them in intensive-care units. Eight people were hospitalized at both Marian Regional Medical Center and Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, with another three at Lompoc Valley Medical Center. 

COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

According to the state vaccine tracker, 70% of Santa Barbara County residents have completed the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Of those who are eligible, 24.1% of county residents have received the bivalent booster.

Statewide, 72.6% of California residents have completed the primary series of the vaccine and 24.5% of Californians have received the bivalent booster. Additionally, 61.1% of Californians have received the primary series of the vaccine and have been boosted.

Got Questions?

Readers have sent us dozens of questions about pandemic-related issues. Please send yours to news@noozhawk.com and we’ll try to include them in future newsletters and Noozhawk Q&As.  

Reader Resources

• Find a COVID-19 vaccine provider near you on the Vaccine Finder search function of https://www.vaccines.gov/search/. You can search for providers by location and by specific vaccine available (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson). You can also find providers on the county website, publichealthsbc.org/vaccine, or at myturn.ca.gov. Some facilities offer walk-ups as well as appointments.
• Text your ZIP code to GETVAX (438829) for a list of vaccine providers in English, or text your ZIP code to VACUNA (822862) for a list in Spanish. 
• There are free COVID-19 testing facilities around the county.
• Find more local pandemic-related information on the Public Health Department website.

Click here for Noozhawk’s complete Coronavirus Crisis coverage.

Help Support Noozhawk Today

Our team has worked hard to build Noozhawk into the trusted local news platform it is today. We are a vital part of this community.

We’re excited about what we do, but we need your help to continue bringing you the thorough local news coverage you rely on.

Your paid membership in our Hawks Club ensures that we can continue to deliver the news you need and want, 24/7. Will you help us by making a financial commitment today?

Click here to make an online donation.

Thank you for your support.

P.S. — Contributions to Noozhawk are not tax-deductible. Checks can be mailed to Noozhawk, P.O. Box 101, Santa Barbara 93102. Please include your email address so we can contact you.