COVID-19 numbers decreasing as deaths increase

By edhat team

Officials from the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health (PHD) said the case rate and test positivity are decreasing, but deaths continue to increase.

During Friday’s press conference, PHD director Dr. Van Do-Reynoso said the good news is the data shows that these two metrics peaked on January 9 and have declined in the past thirteen days. While this is encouraging news, we are not yet out of danger as there is a significant COVID presence in our community, she said.

Hospitalizations and stays in the intensive care unit (ICU) remain high due to the higher number of cases. In the past three weeks, almost three times as many people have died compared to peak summer weeks. Today it was reported that 11 people died from the virus.

Public health officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said that we are simply seeing more deaths because there are more cases of the virus. During the peak of summer, the largest number of ICU admissions was 35 and the municipality is currently having more than 50 admissions for weeks on end.

Do-Reynoso also warned that the sudden increase this summer took three months for the case rate and test positivity to decrease substantially. Given the significantly higher winter peak, the PHD provides for a much longer period of time for the interruption of generalized transmission.

PHD clinics continue to offer healthcare professionals and those over 75 the option of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Since January, PHD has allocated 81% of vaccines to community providers, which include hospitals, pharmacies, emergency care and other clinics, maintaining 19% to serve the community.

Dr. Ansorg confirmed that the Modern vaccine batch that caused allergic reactions in several people in California has been released for use, although no one in the county has received that batch. However, there were two allergic reactions that required medical attention. He said that both patients suffered no lasting damage and recovered quickly with proper treatment.

PHD expects the availability of more vaccines to increase substantially in the next two to three weeks.

The numbers

“In the first three weeks of 2021, we saw more than 8,000 new cases of COVID-19 and our health care system was severely affected,” said PHD on Thursday.

On Thursday, the PHD reported 353 new cases and six more deaths. Three individuals were over 70 years old and three were 50-69 years old. Five individuals had underlying health conditions and two deaths were associated with an outbreak in a public health unit. Two people lived in Santa Maria, one in Lompoc, one in the Northern Council without legal personality, one in the Goleta / Gaviota Valley and one in Goleta.

On Friday, the PHD reported 238 new cases and 11 new deaths.

Eight subjects were 70+ and three were 50-69 years old. Eight individuals had underlying health problems and seven deaths were associated with an outbreak in a public health facility. Five resided in Santa Bárbara, two in Goleta, two in Orcutt, one in Santa Maria and one in the Northern municipality without legal personality.

There are currently 2,176 active cases with 187 hospitalizations, including 50 in the ICU. The availability of the ICU remains at 0%.

More data can be found at publichealthsbc.org

Growing cases in the county jail

Four additional Sheriff’s Office employees and one inmate were considered positive COVID-19. A Sheriff’s Delegate, two Custody Representatives and a member of our professional team were considered COVID-19 positive. This brings the total number of sheriff employees who test positive for COVID-19 to 103, with 85 recovering and getting back to work.

A prisoner was considered COVID-19 positive during the admission process and has since been released. There are currently 33 cases of COVID-19 active in prison, five fewer than our previous press release. The total number of prisoners who tested positive for COVID-19 in the Main Jail during the pandemic is 160.