One person with the coronavirus was in critical condition Thursday afternoon at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department released that information to the public at its daily press conference.
Two other people with coronavirus also are hospitalized there, Cottage Health said in a press release.
There are another 23 patients in the hospital awaiting coronavirus test results, and eight of those patients are in critical condition, spokeswoman Maria Zate said.
In total, there are 32 people confirmed to have the coronavirus in Santa Barbara County, with six new cases announced Thursday. The new cases are:
» Case #27 — in their 60s and resides in the Santa Ynez Valley
» Case #28 — in their 60s and resides in the Santa Ynez Valley
» Case #29 — in their 30s and resides in Santa Barbara
» Case #30 — in their 40s and resides in Santa Maria
» Case #31 — in their 30s and resides in Lompoc
» Case #32 — in their 50s and resides in Santa Maria
Of the 32 people, 21 are recovering well at home, according to Dr. Henning Ansorg, county medical officer, and eight have fully recovered.
Ansorg said Santa Barbara is trailing other communities in cases because of many people’s adherence to social-distancing orders.
“I personally feel very grateful to be living in such a beautiful community, and to be surrounded by such considerate neighbors,” Ansorg said.
Medical officials are encouraging social distancing to reduce the number of people who would need a hospital bed. Officials are concerned about overwhelming hospitals if a large number of people get sick and need hospitalization at one time.
“Only if everybody complies with the physical distancing and stay-at-home orders, only then do we have a chance to accomplish this,” Ansorg said. “I urge you to comply. However, even under more favorable scenarios, I assure you we cannot take this for granted, and we are actively preparing for less favorable scenarios as well.”
Cottage Health issued a press release on Thursday stating that “four patient units have now been established as designated isolation units for care of potential or confirmed COVID-19 patients.”
Cottage Health also has provided 75 iPads to the isolation units to limit the number of entries into patient isolation rooms, to conserve supplies and to connect patients with their families.
Alma Janabajab, business services strategist for the Workforce Development Board of Santa Barbara County, also announced that economic recovery information is available online at readysbc.org/economicrecovery, and people with questions can email covidbiz@countyofsb.org.
“This is a very long-term recovery process, and we are definitely here to support businesses and workers as much as we can,” Janabajab said.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.