The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department confirmed 21 new COVID-19 cases Monday.
It also released Sunday’s statistics of 40 new cases, which were delayed for the Easter holiday. The current daily case counts are similar to those reported in October.
No deaths were recorded either day.
The county has a total of 33,358 COVID-19 cases, and 196 cases are still infectious.
Santa Maria detected the most COVID-19 cases Monday, with eight new cases. It has a total of 11,225 cases, of which 54 are active.
Lompoc found five cases, increasing its total to 3,543 cases. Officials deem 21 cases still infectious in Lompoc.
Santa Barbara confirmed three new cases after detecting 12 cases Sunday. Santa Barbara has a cumulative 6,254 cases, of which 47 cases are active.
Both Santa Barbara and Santa Maria have a similar number of active cases, both around 50 cases. They each have more than double the third highest active case count (in Lompoc).
The following areas also reported daily cases: Isla Vista, two cases (1,272 total, eight active); the South County area containing Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria, one case (1,341 total, eight active); the North County area containing Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama and Guadalupe, one case (1,274 total, 10 active).
The geographic location of one of Monday’s cases is pending.
Just 16 patients with COVID-19 were in county hospitals Sunday. Three of those patients were in critical care. But Monday, the number increased to 27 total COVID-19 patients, and seven patients are in critical care.
Even with the new hospitalizations Monday, the number of hospitalized patients is down 13% from a two-week average.
Monday, 36.8% of the county’s staffed ICU beds were available.
Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is treating 12 patients with COVID-19 symptoms, 11 of which are confirmed COVID-19-positive. And two patients are in critical care.
Only one COVID-19 patient at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is utilizing a ventilator, and there are 89 adults and 13 neonatal ventilators available.
email: ahanshaw@newspress.com
