The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported 47 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the county’s total to 7,916.
The county also reported an additional death on Wednesday, bringing the total now to 90. The county has now seen an increase of 63 deaths since June 22.
The decedent, a Santa Barbara resident over the age of 70, suffered from underlying health conditions. The individual lived in a congregate care facility, according to officials.
The city of Santa Barbara now has 12 COVID-related deaths. Santa Maria has the most deaths of any city in the county with 47.
The health department also announced beach restrictions for Labor Day weekend. All beaches will be temporarily closed for stationary activities from Sept. 4 to Sept. 7.
Of the total cases announced Wednesday, 241 are considered active, with 54 people recovering in the hospital and 23 people receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.
Cottage Health provided an update to its numbers Wednesday, stating that it is caring for a total of 283 patients across all campuses.
Of those, 225 are acute care patients meaning that 163 acute care beds remain available.
Santa Maria reported 17 new cases on Wednesday and now has a total of 3,492 cases, 92 of which are active. Santa Barbara is the next closest with 42 active cases.
Santa Barbara announced 13 new cases, bringing its total to 1,069.
The unincorporated area of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama, and the city of Guadalupe reported four new cases, while Santa Ynez and the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota each reported three new cases.
Lompoc, Goleta and Isla Vista each had one new case on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, the county Public Health Department has administered 113,915 tests. Of those, 105,490 have tested negative, 7,916 positive and 320 were inconclusive.
A total of 7,585 people have recovered after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the data.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday that an additional inmate tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday night. The inmate was tested after coming into contact with another inmate who tested positive for coronavirus, said Lt. Brad McVay, sheriff’s spokesman.
The inmate has been isolated since Sunday when he became symptomatic and was tested. The positive test result was confirmed Tuesday. A total of 41 inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. Eleven cases are considered active, 23 inmates have recovered and six have been released from custody. One inmate has died due to COVID-19.
Associate Editor Mitchell White contributed to this report
email: jmercado@newspress.com
