The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department announced 17 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the county total to 260.
For the third consecutive day, Lompoc continued to show the most cases with 11. The number is larger due to an outbreak at the federal prison in the area, with 46 inmates and 14 prison employees all having tested positive.
On Friday, Santa Maria accounted for four of the cases, while Santa Barbara had two.
Overall, the breakdown of the county as of Friday is:
- Santa Maria: 63
- Lompoc federal prison: 46
- Lompoc: 39
- Santa Barbara: 35
- Orcutt: 24
- Montecito/Summerland/Carpinteria: 16
- North County unincorporated areas: 15
- Goleta Valley/Gaviota: 11
- Santa Ynez Valley: 5
- Goleta: 5
- Isla Vista: 1
The age breakdowns are:
- 0-17: 5
- 18-29: 35
- 30-49: 88
- 50-69: 103
- 70-plus: 23
- Age unknown: 6
In California, there are now 21,374 cases with 598 deaths, with 51 occurring on Friday.
Santa Barbara County moved up to 14th in the state with the 260 cases, but continues to be tied for the lowest amount of deaths in the top 20 with Sonoma County.
Los Angeles County now has more than 8,453 confirmed cases, with 244 deaths. On Friday, L.A. County officials extended the stay-at-home mandate to May 15, with further delays expected.
In the United States, there are now 502,876 confirmed cases, with 18,747 deaths and 27,314 that have fully recovered.
Worldwide, the death total topped six figures, now sitting at 102,774, with 1,698,626 confirmed cases. There have been 376,674 that have fully recovered.
Seventh Sheriff’s deputy tests positive
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office announced that a seventh deputy had tested positive for COVID-19, this one having last worked in the Santa Maria on April 3.
According to a news release, the deputy began to experience COVID-19-like symptoms during that shift and went home.
He was tested on April 4, self-isolated at home in San Luis Obispo County and received the positive test on April 7.
No one else has been isolated as a result of this positive test.
Cottage Health update
President and CEO Ron Werft sent an extensive update about the state of Cottage Health. Here are a few takeaways from the release:
- COVID-19 Patients – The number of patients at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital being treated with COVID-19 has been relatively stable over the past 10 days at 15-20 inpatients, roughly half of whom are in critical care. All COVID-19 positive patients are in isolation units with negative air pressure.
- Bed Capacity and Surge Planning – Patient census is down significantly as a result of cancelling all non-urgent elective procedures. In recent weeks, Cottage Health has been providing care for an average of 160 inpatients, leaving over 200 beds in the system for immediate response to a COVID-19 surge. In addition, we have a surge plan that could add, by converting conference rooms and other non-traditional patient care space, as many as 270 additional beds and cots.
- COVID-19 Predictive Models –The surge models being projected indicate that we may have a long road ahead. The peak may be many weeks away, and we are working closely with the Santa Barbara County leadership and area hospitals to prepare. The county is leading the effort to identify sites for adding beds outside the hospital walls.
- Testing – Current laboratory testing capacity allows only for testing of patients meeting certain criteria. These include symptomatic individuals in congregate care facilities, hospitalized patients, and healthcare workers. Our affiliate, Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories, is developing new testing options with rapid turnaround time to further expand the community’s capacity.
- Screening – We are now screening everyone who enters the hospitals, including physicians and employees, for symptoms of illness. All of our employees are now wearing masks in the hospitals whenever they are interacting with the public or in a clinical area.
