Santa Barbara County’s Intensive Care Unit availability dropped to 12.3% on Thursday, as the county Public Health Department added 240 new COVID-19 cases.
The county’s ICU availability was at 34.7% on Wednesday, but dropped more than 20% on Thursday. A total of 22 residents were in the ICU on Wednesday, with that number at 21 on Thursday, according to the data.
The Southern California region’s ICU availability remains at 0%.
With Thursday’s new cases, the county now has a total of 15,657 cases, including 1,271 that remain infectious. A total of 151 residents have died due to COVID-19.
The city of Santa Maria added 102 new cases on Thursday and now has 5,898 total cases. Of those, 377 remain active. Santa Barbara added 36 cases on Thursday and now has a total of 2,388, including 239 active cases.
The city of Goleta added 19 new cases and now has 635 total, with 97 still active. The city of Lompoc added 18 new cases and now has 1,672, with 145 active. The South County unincorporated area, including Montecito, Summerland and the city of Carpinteria, added 11 new cases and now has 440 total, with 37 still active. Santa Ynez Valley also added 11 new cases and has 378 total, with 54 active.
Other daily case numbers included: Orcutt, nine new cases (761 total, 72 active); unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota, seven new cases (466 total, 67 active); Isla Vista, six new cases (640 total, 32 active); and the unincorporated areas of Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama, and the city of Guadalupe, six new cases (647 total, 34 active).
No new cases were reported in the federal prison in Lompoc, and the geographic region of 15 cases was pending on Thursday.
A total of 123 people are receiving care at local hospitals, according to the data.
Cottage Health issued an update on Thursday, announcing that it is caring for 271 patients across all campuses. Of those, 218 are acute care patients, 13 of whom are on ventilators. Some 53 people are in isolation with COVID-19 symptoms, with 50 confirmed COVID-19 positive. Of the patients in isolation, 11 are in critical care.
A coalition of 10 local California health departments, including Santa Barbara County, issued a message on Thursday asking all residents to take precautions and heed public health protocols, including the current stay-at-home order, to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“We can do all these things again, but only if we all follow effective, fact-based public health measures like wearing face masks, washing hands, practicing social distancing, and only traveling for essential trips,” the message read. “Many of us are spreading the virus without knowing it—over 50% of exposures come from people who don’t have symptoms—so we all need to avoid social gatherings and activities with those outside our household. If we do these things, in a few weeks we could start to see the numbers slow and the curve bend. We will help our systems increase their capacity to manage and end this pandemic.
“If we fail, our finest medical researchers are clear: there will be even worse consequences for our families and our economy.”
In other news, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office has announced that five additional staff members and two inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. A total of 71 Sheriff’s Office employees have tested positive for coronavirus, with 50 having recovered and returned to work.
A total 94 inmates have tested positive for COVID, with five cases remaining active, said Raquel Zick, sheriff’s spokeswoman.
email: mwhite@newspress.com
