This will be the last Noozhawk Weekly COVID-19 Briefing newsletter.
I’m Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk’s managing editor.
We started this free newsletter more than two years ago to share local coronavirus-related information in one place.
We’re ending it as Santa Barbara County moves into the next phase of pandemic response.
We’ve published more than 2,000 articles in the COVID-19 section since early 2020, and Noozhawk will continue reporting on coronavirus-related public health issues.
Pandemic Impact
People lost their lives, their loved ones, their health, their jobs, their businesses, their schooling, and so much more during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Santa Barbara County, 767 people have died of coronavirus-related causes. Fifteen deaths have been reported in 2023.
Several thousand people have been hospitalized, some for months at a time. Tens of thousands of local residents have tested positive with COVID-19 and had to quarantine at home.
(Noozhawk has published updated versions of this chart about 50 times over the past three years.)
Elderly people and people of color have been disproportionately affected by severe illness and death from COVID-19.
More than 70% of deaths have been among people 65 and older throughout California, which is also a trend across the United States. Almost 40% of deaths have been in people over 80, a group that represents about 4% of the population.
Latino residents represent 38.9% of the statewide population and 42.1% of coronavirus-related deaths. Black residents represent 6% of the population and 7% of coronavirus-related deaths.
Guidelines Going Forward
The California Department of Public Health has lifted most coronavirus-related masking requirements, and Santa Barbara County is following those recommendations.
One important guideline remains in place: people who test positive for COVID-19 should isolate themselves at home for at least five days.
Everyone should stay home when they’re sick and remember the disease prevention methods they used during the pandemic — like wearing masks, washing hands, early testing, and staying up to date on vaccinations, public health officials say.
The COVID-19 state of emergency is ending, but the disease is not, says Dr. Mouhanad Hammami, the county’s public health officer.
How to Get Vaccinated, Tested
COVID-19 vaccination and medical treatments are available to substantially lower the chance of severe illness and death for most people.
About 70% of Santa Barbara County residents are fully vaccinated for COVID-19, and about 72.8% of California residents are vaccinated.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends one updated (bivalent) booster dose for everyone 5 years old and older who completed their primary series of COVID-19 vaccination, and for children 6 months to 4 years old who received the Moderna primary series of vaccination.
The Food & Drug Administration has proposed shifting to an annual booster vaccination program to target circling variants, similar to the one used for influenza.
Find a COVID-19 vaccine provider at https://www.vaccines.gov/search/ and myturn.ca.gov.
Testing is widely available, especially with rapid, antigen test kits. PCR molecular testing is still available from some local health-care providers, but the free, state-run PCR testing sites have all closed.
A positive test is no longer required to prescribe someone Paxlovid and Lagevrio, two COVID-19 treatments. The FDA changed the emergency use authorizations in February.
Tracking Coronavirus-Related Data
Here’s how to keep tracking coronavirus-related data, like cases, hospitalizations, deaths and testing.
California’s main page at https://covid19.ca.gov/ includes links to a data dashboard.
Santa Barbara County’s Public Health Department doesn’t report as much information as it used to, or as often, but summaries are available on its dashboard here: https://sbcdashboard.info/.
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