As the bulk of the United States gets antsy about returning to work and lifting the sagging economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom provided six key indicators that would lead him to lifting the stay-at-home order.
“While Californians have stepped up in a big way to flatten the curve and buy us time to prepare to fight the virus, at some point in the future we will need to modify our stay-at-home order,” Gov. Newsom said in a news release.
“As we contemplate reopening parts of our state, we must be guided by science and data, and we must understand that things will look different than before.”
The six indicators are as follows:
- The ability to monitor and protect our communities through testing, contact tracing, isolating, and supporting those who are positive or exposed;
- The ability to prevent infection in people who are at risk for more severe COVID-19;
- The ability of the hospital and health systems to handle surges;
- The ability to develop therapeutics to meet the demand;
- The ability for businesses, schools, and child care facilities to support physical distancing; and
- The ability to determine when to reinstitute certain measures, such as the stay-at-home orders, if necessary.
Gov. Newsom spoke to the idea of immunity and how he will continue to guide the state until Californians get to that point, pointing to the following keys:
- Ensure our ability to care for the sick within our hospitals;
- Prevent infection in people who are at high risk for severe disease;
- Build the capacity to protect the health and well-being of the public; and
- Reduce social, emotional and economic disruptions
Gov. Newsom, who is staunch in his belief in data-driven and science-based decisions, fell short of speaking to an exact timeline for modifying the stay-at-home order, but did indicate that restaurants would have fewer tables and school classrooms would be reconfigured.
Uptick in local crime
Santa Barbara Police Chief Lori Luhnow visited the Santa Barbara City Council on Tuesday and provided an update for council members.
According to Ms. Luhnow, there has been an “uptick” in crime, including people trying to police their own neighborhoods.
“The stay away order really means we want people safely tucked in at home, and some things they may not like seeing around them but it’s best not to address them and create confrontation,” Ms. Luhnow said. “We are always going to be there to help but I think the best rule is to avoid those, and really when it comes down to it, value yourself over property. We will respond, we will address criminal acts. We’re not requesting our community do that for us.”
She also provided an update on what the department is seeing in terms of crime.
“Yes, we’re seeing a little uptick in crime in a way that we definitely don’t enjoy seeing,” Ms. Luhnow said. “Petty crime or lower-level vandalism are associated with maybe some children or youth that are not engaged and out in the streets, and then some of it too with some criminal element that is looking for means to survive, I hate to say.
“Another area that really concerns us is the uptick in violence and that is across the board. In regards to reasoning, we have a lot of people on the streets that were in custody the last couple months. I think our law abiding understand they need to be inside and they are continuing to be law abiding citizens for the most part.”
Santa Barbara County, by the numbers
After a weekend of small confirmed cases, Tuesday brought about 29 additional COVID-19 cases in Santa Barbara County, pushing the overall total to 313.
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported that there was one new case for those between 0-17 years of age, the seventh such case.
In addition, there were seven in the 18-29 group, nine apiece in the 30-49 and 50-69 groups and three in the 70-plus age bracket.
There were 16 new cases in Lompoc, with 13 of them pinned to the outbreak at the federal prison, bringing that total to 67.
Additionally, there were six new cases in Santa Maria, three in Santa Barbara, two in Montecito/Summerland/Carpinteria and one in Orcutt.
Overall, 133 are recovering at home, 40 are in the hospital (15 in the intensive care unit), 124 have full recovered and 14 are pending an update.
Dr. Henning Ansorg, the PHD’s health officer, indicated that there are now 38 healthcare workers that have tested positive for COVID-19.
COVID-19, by the numbers
A look at statewide, nationwide and worldwide numbers through Tuesday:
- In California, there are 25,777 confirmed cases, with 788 deaths.
- Santa Barbara County fell back to 15th in the state, with San Joaquin County leapfrogging with 350 cases.
- Los Angeles County moved past 10,000 cases on Tuesday, now sitting at 10,075 with 366 deaths. Riverside and San Diego counties are nearing 2,000 cases with 1,961 and 1,930, respectively.
- In the United States, there are now 609,422 confirmed cases, with 24,429 deaths. There are 43,442 people that have fully recovered.
- Across the world, there are 1,982,552 confirmed cases with 126,753 deaths. The U.S. officially tripled Spain in the amount of confirmed cases. Spain is second in the world with 174,060 cases.
Cottage Health, by the numbers
Cottage Health continued to send out its daily report, with the following update:
- Cottage Health is caring for a total of 204 patients across all campuses.
- 157 are acute care patients; 216 acute care beds remain available.
- Of the 157 patients, 11 patients are on ventilators; 53 ventilators remain available (adult, pediatric and neonatal ventilators)
- Of the 157 patients, 20 are in isolation with COVID-19 symptoms; 16 are confirmed COVID-19 positive.
- Of 20 patients in isolation, 9 patients are in critical care.
- Cottage has collected 1,811 cumulative test samples: 146 resulted in positive, 1,585 resulted in negative, and 80 are pending. In most of these tests, patients did not require hospital admission.
In addition, Cottage asked that any business looking to donate food to hospital workers connect with Kate Greene at k1greene@sbch.org, as all food donations must be scheduled and approved in advance. They are also not accepting food produced in home kitchens or non-commercial settings.
email: nmasuda@newspress.com
