Last month, in Santa Barbara County, the number of active cases of COVID-19 quadrupled and the number of hospitalizations almost tripled.
“The case rate is impressive, it is astronomical,” said Director of Public Health Van Do-Reynoso at Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting. “We expect to be on the rise at least until the end of January, due to travel and holiday meetings.”
Public health officials reported eight more deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday, including three residents of Santa Maria, a resident of Santa Barbara, a resident of the South County unincorporated area, a resident of Lompoc, a resident of Orcutt and a resident of an unincorporated area of North County. Three of the deaths were associated with outbreaks in congregational facilities, according to the county.
Since March, 207 people have died from COVID-19 in Santa Barbara County, and a third of those deaths were reported last month.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalization numbers have skyrocketed in the past few weeks, constantly reaching and breaking records and causing concern about the availability of intensive care units.
On December 31, the Department of Public Health reported a record 396 new cases daily. That number was exceeded shortly afterwards, with 456 new cases registered on January 4, and decreased on Thursday, when 512 new cases were registered.
The highest number of daily cases to date was reported on Sunday, when the county registered 779 new cases in just one day.
There were 470 new cases registered on Tuesday. There are currently 2,895 people infected (people who recently tested positive, which the county calls active cases).
More than 200 residents of Santa Bárbara County are hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest number recorded during the pandemic. (Illustration by Giana Magnoli / Noozhawk)
Santa Bárbara County had an adjusted case rate of 64 new daily cases per 100,000 people on Tuesday and an average seven-day test positive rate of 16.8%.
Hospitalizations exceeded 200 for the first time on Tuesday, when Public Health notified 211 patients with COVID-19 at local hospitals across the county, 56 of which require intensive care.
Overall, 80 of the 89 staffed ICU beds were occupied on Tuesday, and 71% of those patients had COVID-19, according to the county’s Community Data Dashboard.
Public health officials predict that the county will remain under the order of stay at Governor Gavin Newsom’s home for at least another month, as projections do not show the availability of ICU in Southern California reaching 15% or more. It was 0% on Tuesday.
As Do-Reynoso said, Public Health officials believe that cases and hospitalizations will continue to increase for several weeks because of the delay between exposure, infection and illness enough to require hospital care for those in need.
It has been less than three weeks since Christmas and two weeks since New Year’s Eve, when many people traveled and attended meetings.
| Santa Barbara County | December 15th | December 22 | December 29 | January 5 | January 12 |
| New positive cases reported in the previous week | 1,268 | 1,445 | 1,541 | 2,320 | 3,240 |
| New cases among healthcare professionals in the previous week | 54 | 84 | 72 | 50 | 113 |
| Total test results reported in the previous week | 17,532 | 18,243 | 15,753 | 12,681 | 23,953 |
| Hospital patients with positive COVID-19 | 78 | 103 | 127 | 172 | 211 |
| Active cases (still infectious after positive test) | 1,059 | 1,245 | 1,227 | 2,105 | 2,895 |
| Cumulative deaths related to COVID-19 | 140 | 150 | 156 | 173 | 207 |
County expands test sites, makes progress in first round of vaccinations
The county has expanded the public’s free COVID-19 testing opportunities and can test 1,173 people a day across five locations, said Do-Reynoso.
“Having the mobile test unit and the additional 500 test capacity it brings is really timely and important,” said second district supervisor Gregg Hart of the newest location, at the CenCal Health building near Santa Barbara. Bookings for all five sites can be made online.
Do-Reynoso said the county has 48 case investigators / contact trackers who work seven days a week. They can close about 400 cases on a weekday and 200 on weekends, when they have fewer employees, she said.
The percentage of cases with a complete contact tracking investigation has dropped as the cases have increased, and public health officials are asking the public for help.
“With the dramatic increase in positive cases, the Department of Public Health is working as quickly as possible to contact everyone who has recently had a positive result, but resources are being stretched beyond anything previously seen, even with plans increase capacity in effect, “officials said in a December 14 statement.” It is critical that the public help. If people have tested positive for the virus, they should take immediate steps to stay at home and isolate themselves from others, while following isolation guidelines and notifying others who have been in close contact with them.
One-third of 207 local COVID-19 deaths were reported last month, according to the Public Health Department Community Data Dashboard. (Illustration from the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health)
About 80% of cases had a contact screening investigation in October and 70% from November 25 to December 24, but only 59% since December 25 have had an investigation, said Do-Reynoso.
Tracking data from incomplete contacts from the last week of December shows that administrative / administrative workers, health professionals, children and retired / unemployed individuals are over-represented in recent cases compared to the general pandemic.
Do-Reynoso also gave an update on vaccination efforts across the county.
The Department of Public Health distributed most of its vaccine doses to community providers, including hospitals, and 53% of those 13,975 doses were administered in three weeks, she said.
Public Health itself has vaccination sites and used 40% of its 2,800 doses last week, she added.
The doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are still prioritized for the first phase of people, which Gov. Newsom called “vaccination of vaccinators”.
Health care workers, emergency medical service workers and employees and residents of long-term care facilities can be vaccinated.
The county is making good progress among these groups, officials said, and hopes to have information soon about appointments for the next round of people aged 75 and over.
“We are giving people hope, optimism and then resilience to take the public health order a little further to get the virus under control,” said Hart.
The Department of Public Health’s new coronavirus website, publichealthsbc.org, contains information about the vaccination distribution plan and estimated schedules.
“Currently, few details are available on the record of consultations because reach is specifically targeting our health community,” said the Department of Public Health on Monday.
– Jade Martinez-Pogue, editor of the Noozhawk team, can be contacted at . (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.