The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported 74 new positive COVID-19 cases on Friday.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 10,839, with 10,393 recovered, 133 deaths and 313 still infectious.
Santa Maria reported 18 new positive COVID-19 cases and Santa Barbara reported 16 new cases.
There were 11 cases reported in Lompoc and one from the federal prison.
Isla Vista and the South County unincorporated area, including Montecito, Summerland and city of Carpinteria, each reported five new positive COVID-19 cases.
Goleta and the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota each reported four new cases.
The Santa Ynez Valley reported two new cases, along with Orcutt also reporting two new COVID-19 cases.
The unincorporated areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and city of Guadalupe did not report any new cases.
Cottage Health is currently caring for a total of 273 patients across all campuses, 214 of which are acute care patients. There are still 172 acute care beds available.
In the COVID-19 press conference from the Public Health Department on Friday, county officials discussed the move back to the purple tier and the new limited stay at home order for the hours of 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Dr. Van Do Reynoso, the Public Health director, said that the spikes in North County are likely to be the effects of parties over Halloween.
“We are currently investigating 12 new outbreaks this week,” she said. “Seven are in congregate settings and five are business-related.”
She added that based on contact tracing data, gatherings are the source of the outbreaks and the increasing spread.
The county will not be having a press conference next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
email: gmccormick@newspress.com
