Santa Barbara County’s cumulative COVID-19 death toll surpassed 500 on Tuesday when Public Health officials reported the deaths of an Orcutt and Santa Barbara resident.
One of the people who died was over the age of 70, and the other was between the ages of 30 and 49; both had underlying medical conditions.
There have been 501 Santa Barbara County residents who lost their lives due to the novel coronavirus since the first local death was reported on April 1, 2020.
Public Health officials also reported the highest daily COVID-19 case count in seven months on Tuesday with an additional 245 cases, the vast majority of them in the Santa Maria Valley.
This is the largest daily case count since Feb. 1, when the county reported 265 cases of COVID-19.
However, the county’s COVID-19 data dashboard indicates, without explanation, that the total includes a number of backlogged cases.
Of the new cases reported Tuesday, 184 were from the Santa Maria Valley and 21 were from the Lompoc Valley.
Santa Barbara reported 18 new cases, the Goleta Valley added 11, the Santa Ynez Valley logged two, and Isla Vista reported one.
There were no new cases reported in the unincorporated areas of South County, and eight cases were still pending geographic location.
Residents between the ages of 30 and 49 accounted for the largest portion of Tuesday’s cases at 89 cases, followed by people under the age of 17 with 60 new cases, and the 18-29 age group with 55 cases.
There were 35 cases reported among residents between the ages of 50 and 69, and six new cases among residents older than 70.
There were 45 patients hospitalized for the virus on Tuesday, including 12 in intensive-care units. There were 420 cases still considered infectious across the county on Tuesday.
Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, organizers postponed the Harbor and Seafood Festival in Santa Barbara for the second year in a row.
“After closely following local and state COVID data and in consultation with local health authorities, we feel it is in the best interest of the community to postpone the event until next year,” organizers said in a statement on Tuesday.
The event was originally scheduled to take place on Oct. 16 to mark the start of lobster season, which runs from October to March.
Residents can still support the start of the lobster season at the Santa Barbara Lobster Fest, an event held by the Commercial Fisherman of Santa Barbara and Get Hooked Seafood on Oct. 23.
The two groups will have live lobsters for sale and chef-made spiny lobster dishes for attendees to eat at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s front patio.
The event runs from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. on Oct. 23, and residents can reserve a time slot to partake in the celebration.
— 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.