Santa Barbara County is expected to advance to the less restrictive red level on Tuesday, Department of Public Health officials said at the COVID-19 virtual news conference on Friday.
“This will bring us new opportunities for opening business and entertainment venues,” said county public health officer, Dr. Henning Ansorg, of the move to the second most restrictive category. “It also presents us with the challenge of staying safe and not returning to another wave of viruses.”
The internal operation of gyms and gyms, restaurants, cinemas, aquariums, museums and zoos are permitted with modifications in the red band, according to the state reopening of COVID-19, the Project for a Safer Economy.
In the red layer, wineries, breweries and distilleries in the county of Santa Bárbara will only be able to operate outdoors with the modifications described in the classification system, including limited hours for service and a time limit of 90 minutes for guests, among others.
All 58 counties fall under California’s color-coded tier system, which is a four-tiered classification structure. Santa Bárbara County is in the “generalized” purple layer, the most restrictive level.
Ansorg’s comments during the press conference on Friday, which marked the one-year anniversary of the county’s first COVID-19 press conference, came shortly after state officials announced that California had achieved 2 million doses of vaccination in the vaccine equivalence metric.
Two million doses of vaccine have been administered to the most affected communities, representing about 25% of eligible people in California, according to state officials.
As a result, Blueprint for a Safer Economy levels have been updated to allow “slightly higher case rates at the substantial (red) level,” said the state.
The criteria for the reopening layers will change when 2 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are administered to people living in about 400 CEPs in the vaccine equivalence quartile.
The purple layer criteria for case rates will change from more than seven new cases per day per 100,000 people to more than 10 new COVID-19 cases per day, said County Director of Public Health Van Do-Reynoso.
The case rate criteria for the red level will be expanded to four to 10 daily cases per 100,000 people, and the orange and yellow levels will remain the same, said Do-Reynoso.
The county must be at one level for three consecutive weeks before officially advancing to the red level, said Do-Reynoso.
The latest level assignment shows Santa Bárbara County at an adjusted rate of 9.7 cases per day, so the county can move to the red level now that the state has reached the 2 million vaccine dose limit.
To advance to the least restrictive red level, the county must achieve the test’s positive rate for that level for two consecutive weeks. The county of Santa Bárbara has a positivity rate of 3.6%.
County COVID-19 metrics “decreased substantially”, including the number of active cases, new daily cases, positivity of the COVID-19 test, case rate, hospitalized positive coronavirus patients and mortality rate, said Do-Reynoso.
“The increase in cases in the winter is now over,” said Do-Reynoso on Friday.
The county said it had received more than 117,700 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine so far, Do-Reynoso said, adding that as of Friday, the county had administered more than 80% of its allocated doses to date. She noted that vaccination data lag three days.
“The remaining doses are scheduled for clinics in the next few days,” said Do-Reynoso on Friday.
Santa Bárbara County is vaccinating people aged 65 and over, along with agricultural and food workers, educators and childcare workers, emergency service workers, residents aged 75 and over, emergency medical personnel and health professionals.
As of Monday, individuals aged 16 to 64 at high risk of morbidity and mortality due to COVID-19 will be eligible to receive the vaccine in the county. The health conditions stated in the county guidelines include cancer, chronic kidney disease stage four or more, chronic lung disease, Down syndrome, pregnancy, sickle cell disease, heart problems, severe obesity and type 2 diabetes, among others.
“Whenever eligibility opens, vaccine supplies are still limited initially and more will be available in the coming weeks,” said Do-Reynoso. “Please be patient as we open vaccine opportunities for the remaining categories in our community.”
According to Ansorg, to date, Santa Barbara County has about 10% of its population aged 18 and over who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“And more or less, 15% received at least one dose, which already offers good protection against severe COVID and death,” said Ansorg.
The county is home to more than 446,000 residents, according to the US Census Bureau’s latest population estimate.
The next two to three weeks are expected to be “challenging” because the number of weekly vaccine supplies available for Santa Barbara County is unlikely to increase, while more residents will become eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccines, Ansorg said.
“In April, we should see a dramatic increase in available vaccines and, hopefully, in May, everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get it,” said Ansorg.
County transfers COVID-19 mobile test unit to Santa Bárbara
To expand COVID-19 test access to residents, the Department of Public Health will move the mobile COVID-19 test unit to East Beach in Santa Barbara starting on Monday.
The unit will operate from 7 am to 7 pm, Monday to Friday, at the seaside parking lot on Avenida E. Cabrillo, 1118. in Santa Bárbara.
It is necessary to make an appointment and the test is free and available to all members of the community.
Appointments can be made online at https://lhi.care/covidtesting or by calling 888.634.1123.
The Department of Public Health website – https://publichealthsbc.org/testing/ – has more information on local testing options. Residents can also call 2-1-1 for assistance when signing up for a test appointment.
“Taking the test means detecting where the virus is spreading and ending it. We know that our community is eager to move forward and testing is a key tool in making that happen. Lowering our case rate will allow our community to move through the levels more quickly and start reopening more business sectors and schools, ”said Do-Reynoso in a statement. “The mobile test site is a great way for community members to easily access COVID-19 tests while enjoying a beautiful view.”
New COVID-19 status report for Santa Barbara County
Meanwhile, county public health officials reported on Friday 54 new positive cases of COVID-19, and two additional North County residents died of COVID-19.
There were a total of 32,573 positive cases confirmed in the county, and the death toll from COVID-19 is now 428, according to the COVID-19 community data panel.
Both residents who died were in the age group over 70 and had underlying medical conditions, according to Public Health. The individuals who died resided in Lompoc and Santa Maria. The deaths were not associated with an outbreak at a congregated call center, according to the county.
There were 43 patients with COVID-19 confirmed to be treated in hospitals in the Santa Barbara County area. Of these patients, 15 were in intensive care units.
The municipality operated with more than 31% availability of ICU until Friday, according to Public Health.
Of Friday’s new positive cases, Santa Maria had 26, and four each were reported in Santa Barbara and Orcutt. Three of each were reported in the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area, Goleta, Santa Ynez Valley, Lompoc and in the unincorporated areas of North County. The unincorporated area of Vale do Goleta and Gaviota had two new cases, and Isla Vista had one. Geographic locations have not been disclosed for two new cases.
There were about 255 community cases still considered infectious across the municipality, according to Public Health.
It is almost the one-year anniversary of the first confirmed case of a new coronavirus in Santa Barbara County. The county’s first COVID-19 case was reported on March 15, 2020, and the first local death announced in April.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department reported on Friday that the number of active COVID-19 cases among inmates in the Main Jail has dropped to zero.
“All cases of COVID-19 in the Main Jail have been cleared up and there are currently no positive COVID-19 inmates being monitored,” said Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Raquel Zick.
As of Friday, more than 210 prisoners in Main Prison had tested positive for COVID-19, including a Santa Maria inmate who died after arriving at the hospital due to COVID-19 complications while in custody at Santa Barbara County Jail. .
In addition, a sheriff’s custody assistant tested positive for COVID-19, Zick said on Friday.
To date, 116 sheriff officials have tested positive for COVID-19, with 113 of them recovered and returned to work, Zick said.
More information about COVID-19 vaccine appointments
Registration information for county clinics and links to vaccination sites at pharmacies and hospitals are here: https://publichealthsbc.org/covid-19-vaccine-appointment-registration/.
Sign the county newsletter about vaccination efforts, including available appointment announcements, here: https://signup.e2ma.net/signup/1937902/1753150/.
Call 2-1-1 and select option 4 to contact the county call center for vaccine-related questions and help register for an appointment if you are eligible. The call center can be reached by calling 800.400.1572 for numbers outside the area and is open from 9 am to 5 pm daily.
The 2-1-1 call center has people who can answer questions about COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County, according to the Department of Public Health.
The state of California has released lists of specific jobs that qualify for each vaccination priority group, but not for the education and child care sector. See the lists here: https://covid19.ca.gov/essential-workforce/.
The Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health has additional information related to the vaccine on its COVID-19 page here: https://publichealthsbc.org.
Click here to read the stories in the Noozhawk Coronavirus Crisis section.
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