The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office announced that two of its deputies have tested positive for COVID-19, with both recovering at home.
According to a release from the Sheriff, the first deputy patrols in Santa Maria and last worked on March 21.
The deputy fell ill on March 22 with coronavirus-related symptoms and was tested on March 23. The deputy was informed of the positive result on March 27.
The second deputy had ridden in the patrol car with the first deputy, displaying symptoms while at work on March 27. The deputy left work and received medical attention, including testing. The second deputy received confirmation on March 28.
“The Sheriff’s Office has been working closely with (Santa Barbara County) Public Health to evaluate any potential risk to additional staff or the public. The Sheriff’s Office initiated additional follow-up that included tracing back each of the deputies’ contacts with the public and coworkers in a proactive effort to identify possible exposures. No additional people have been identified or recommended for self-isolation protocol by Public Health,” the release said.
What type of contact the two deputies had with other Sheriff’s personnel or the public wasn’t known at press time.
Meanwhile, four new positive COVID-19 cases were announced on Sunday, while the PHD also revealed that the number of cases that have been moved to the intensive care unit have doubled overnight.
Now with 68 overall cases, six are now in the ICU — with eight recovering in the hospital.
Of the remaining cases, 45 are recovering at home, 14 have fully recovered and one is pending an update.
Two of the newly announced cases — one in their 40s and another in their 60s — reside in the North County unincorporated areas of New Cuyama, Sisquoc, Casmalia and city of Guadalupe, while one in their 20s was in Santa Maria and the other in their 70s was in the Montecito/Summerland/Carpinteria area.
COVID-19, by the numbers
Here is an update on where the coronavirus stands statewide and worldwide:
- There are now 6,312 overall cases in California, growing by 630 in 24 hours. The number of deaths grew by 10 to 131.
- Los Angeles County continues to lead the state in cases and deaths, with 2,147 and 37, respectively. Santa Clara County’s death toll has risen to 25.
- San Luis Obispo County (71 cases) and Santa Barbara County (68 cases) continue to be the only counties in the state’s top 20 most affected without a death.
- In the United States, there are 140,886 overall cases (increase of 19,408), with 2,467 deaths (increase of 441).
- The U.S. continues to be the only country over 100,000 cases, with Italy closing in with 97,689. They are followed by China (82,149), Spain (80,110) and Germany (62,435).
- Worldwide, the number of overall cases grew by 55,193 (720,117) and deaths increased by 3,077 (33,925).
Extension of COVID-19 mandates
President Trump received an update from medical experts this weekend and announced on Sunday afternoon that the social distancing guidelines that he had pushed forward would extend to April 30.
This decision came after he had indicated he was looking to soften guidelines by Easter, which is April 12.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government’s infectious disease specialist, agreed with Mr. Trump’s decision, predicting that between 100,000 to 200,000 Americans might die due to the pandemic.
Dr. Fauci also said that millions would be infected.
“We feel that the mitigation that we’re doing right now is having an effect,” Fauci said.
email: nmasuda@newspress.com
