Noozhawk is interested in your experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccine efforts among residents, employees and family members of residents at long-term care facilities in Santa Barbara County.
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted several challenges facing some skilled-nursing facilities, including staffing shortages and lack of access to resources necessary to curb the spread of the virus among the most vulnerable population, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Of the 438 COVID-19-related deaths countywide reported as of Wednesday, at least 163 fatalities were associated with outbreaks at local congregate living facilities.
The majority of those people died during the winter surge in COVID-19 cases, according to a Noozhawk database.
All skilled-nursing facilities and many other long-term care facilities experienced outbreaks during the pandemic in Santa Barbara County.
If your facility did, let us know how you were affected by the outbreak.
The rate of new COVID-19 cases among residents at the county’s skilled-nursing facilities recently has declined, according to the CDPH.
As of March 29, the county reported no new confirmed COVID-19-positive residents over the last seven days at local skilled-nursing facilities.
Public Health officials decided the 75-plus group was among those first in line to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended residents of long-term care facilities be included among those provided the first COVID-19 vaccine supply.
Noozhawk needs your help telling the story of what it has been like at long-term care facilities after vaccination efforts started.
If you are willing to share your name and contact information, we may reach out to you for a future story on this topic.
Send us an email at news@noozhawk.com or fill out the Google Form below to tell us more.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.