[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 Serena Guentz 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
» Santa Barbara County’s COVID-19 community level remains low, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s definition, with a weekly case rate of 64.05 per 100,000 population, 2.1 new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000, and 2.2% of staffed in-patient beds occupied by patients with confirmed COVID-19.
» The number of new cases reported each week continues to decline.
» There were 173 new COVID-19 cases reported in Santa Barbara County during the week ending Oct. 3, according to the most recent data available on the county’s COVID-19 dashboard. The previous week had 243 cases and one related death. The number of new cases is undercounted because positive results from self-testing kits generally are not reported to the Public Health Department.
» On Monday, there were 21 coronavirus-positive patients hospitalized in the county, one of them in an intensive-care unit.
» The seven-day test positivity as of Oct. 3 was 4.4%.
» The county extended its contract with a public affairs firm to continue updating its COVID-19 informational website through mid-2023. The website, https://publichealthsbc.org/, was created in 2020 to consolidate pandemic-related information, including testing sites, vaccination providers, symptoms and local data.
COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker
About 69.4% of Santa Barbara County residents have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and about 59.6% of residents have completed the primary series and received booster doses.
More than 28.8 million people in California have completed the primary COVID-19 vaccine series, meaning that about 72.3% of Californians are fully vaccinated.
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.
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— Noozhawk staff writer Serena Guentz can be reached at sguentz@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.