There were 194 cases of COVID-19 reported in Santa Barbara County in the week ending on Monday, according to the most recent data from the county Community Dashboard.

The county reported one COVID-19-related death this week.

The weekly average of PCR-confirmed cases increased 5.9% in the county this week compared with the previous week, according to the Public Health Department. It represents an under-reporting of cases in Santa Barbara County because at-home tests are often not reported to the Public Health Department. To report an at-home COVID-19 test result, visit: https://makemytestcount.org.

COVID-19 community levels remain low in the county, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention metric based on new cases and hospitalizations.

The test positivity rate is 5.8%, a 0.7% decrease from the prior week.

As of Thursday, there were 20 COVID-19-positive patients in the county, five of whom were in intensive-care units. Of those hospitalized patients, eight were hospitalized at Marian Regional Medical Center, 10 were at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and two were hospitalized at Lompoc Valley Medical Center.

“The CDC reports XBB.1.5 to be the dominant strain on the southern West Coast (including California),” Public Health officials said Friday.

Of those eligible to receive it, 70% of Santa Barbara County residents have completed the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state vaccine tracker, and 24.1%  of people have received the bivalent booster.

Statewide, 72.6% of California residents have completed the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine and 24.5% of Californians have received the bivalent booster.

Though test-to-treat sites have closed in the county, there are still free rapid antigen testing sites available at Public Health Department-operated facilities throughout the county. Visit publichealthsbc.org to find a testing site.