The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department on Monday reported three additional COVID-19 deaths and 236 new cases since Friday.
The fatalities included two people between the ages of 50 and 69 and one over the age of 70. Two of the people who died lived in Santa Maria and one resided in Orcutt.
Two of the individuals had underlying health conditions, and none of the deaths was associated with a congregate-care site, according to Public Health.
There have been 14 COVID-19-related deaths reported over the past two weeks, bringing the county’s cumulative death toll to 497.
Of the new cases, 117 were reported on Saturday, 43 were reported on Sunday, and 76 were reported on Monday.
There were 132 cases reported in the Santa Maria Valley; 41 in the Lompoc Valley; 26 in Santa Barbara; 16 in the Goleta Valley; five in the unincorporated areas of South County; two in Isla Vista and two in the Santa Ynez Valley. There were 12 cases still pending geographic location.
The majority of the new cases were among residents between the ages of 30 and 49, followed by people below the age of 17. There were 72 new cases in the 30-49 age group, 62 among those below the age of 17, 50 in the 18-29 age group, 42 in the 50-69 age group, and 10 among residents over 70 years old.
There have been 664 new cases reported countywide over the past week, averaging nearly 95 cases per day.
This is a 14% decrease from the week prior, when the county reported an average of 110.3 new cases per day, according to data tracking done by Noozhawk.
The number of COVID-19 patients being treated in local hospitals dropped from 46 on Friday to 45 on Monday, with 44 hospitalized patients on Saturday and 47 on Sunday. Twelve of the hospitalized COVID-19 patients on Monday were being treated in intensive-care units.
COVID-19 hospitalizations have been declining over the past month, with a nearly 27% decrease in admissions for the week ending Monday when compared to the week prior.
— 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.