Santa Barbara County Public Health officials reported 172 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, and one additional fatality.
The individual who passed away was between the ages of 50 and 69, had underlying health conditions, and resided in the community of Orcutt, public health reported.
The cumulative death toll is now 140.
The county has reported an average of just over 139 new COVID-19 cases per day over the past seven days, and more than 110 new cases of the previous two weeks.
Thursday’s daily testing positivity rate was 6.5%, and there were 816 active cases throughout the county.
Of the 172 new cases, 52 were from Santa Maria, 28 were from Santa Barbara, and 26 were from Lompoc. Orcutt reported 13 new cases, and the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota and Goleta each reported nine.
The Santa Ynez Valley and unincorporated areas of North County each had seven new cases.
The Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area reported five, and Isla Vista reported three.
There were 13 cases pending location.
There were 64 COVID-19 patients being treated in local hospitals, with 12 requiring intensive care.
Santa Barbara County is part of the large Southern California region for the current 3-week stay-at-home order based on the limited availability of ICU beds.
The region on Thursday reported that its ICU availability was only 7.7%, while Santa Barbara County’s availability was 49.5%.
Local officials have asked for Santa Barbara County to be separated from the SoCal region, and instead be placed in a new region with Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties.
The request was still pending with state public health officials and the governor.
— Noozhawk staff writer Jade Martinez-Pogue can be reached at jmartinez-pogue@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
