The Santa Barbara Public Health Department reported 74 new COVID-19 cases and four additional coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday.
Three of those who died were between the ages of 50 and 69, while the other was between the ages of 30 to 49.
All four had underlying health conditions. and none was associated with a congregate-care site. Two of the individuals resided in Santa Barbara, while the other two lived in Lompoc.
These bring the county’s total number of COVID-19-related deaths to 654.
According to the Community Data Dashboard, there are 46 COVID-19-positive people hospitalized throughout the county. Intensive-care-unit admittances related to the virus appear to be decreasing, with seven patients being treated in ICUs on Thursday.
With 437 COVID-19 cases in the week ending Thursday, case numbers have decreased 46% from the previous week, which had 810 cases.
Of the new cases reported Thursday, 33 were in the Santa Maria Valley and 16 were in the Goleta Valley.
The Santa Barbara area recorded seven new cases Thursday and Isla Vista logged six new cases.
The Lompoc Valley had four cases and the Santa Ynez Valley and the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area each reported three cases.
Two cases were pending geographic location Thursday.
The Community Data Dashboard also showed that there were 394 cases considered “active” or still infectious on Thursday.
— 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.