Santa Barbara County saw its death total due to the novel coronavirus rise to 12 on Friday. Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, the Santa Barbara Public Health Department director, reported the person who died was in their 70s with underlying health conditions and lived in Santa Maria.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to these community members, family and friends,” Dr. Do-Reynoso said.
This marks the third death to come from the Santa Maria area, which is the most in the county.
As a whole, this also marks the seventh death in North County.
In addition, the county also announced another 12 cases, one of which came from the federal prison complex in Lompoc, bringing the total to 1,551. Of the total cases, 27 people are recovering in a hospital, with 10 in the Intensive Care Unit, while 71 are recovering at home.
To date, there have been 1,346 cases of recovery in the community total, including 881 from the Federal Prison Complex in Lompoc.
According to the county, there are now 971 total confirmed cases in the prison system in Lompoc, 88 of which are still active.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, the federal department that operates the Lompoc facilities, there are 122 active cases in the Lompoc facilities.
At the Federal Correctional Institute Lompoc, 52 inmates and eight staff members have tested positive. At the U.S. Penitentiary Lompoc, 54 inmates and eight staff members.
have tested positive.
To date, 966 inmates have recovered, including 855 in the Federal Correctional Institute, as well as 24 staffers.
Dr. Do-Reynoso said there has been concern about the majority of positive cases being in North County, including Santa Maria. “We have begun conversations with the city’s leadership as well as community partners and community members to really look at why it is occurring and in the days ahead, we will be meeting with various groups to strategize and to look at what we can do together as a community to address those cases.”.
