COVID-19 transmission levels have increased to high in Santa Barbara County, according to CDC definitions.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department said the increase reflects
new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, new COVID-19 related hospital admissions per 100,000 population, and the percent of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients.
Meanwhile, COVID-19-related hospitalizations have been increasing, although ICU admissions have been low.
There has been one death reported in the last week.
BA.5 continues to be the dominant strain on the southern West Coast and across the nation.
For more information, see (covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view?list_select_state=California&data-type=CommunityLevels&list_select_county=6083).
— Katherine Zehnder
