By edhat staff
The Department of Public Health (PHD) reports that the availability of the intensive care unit in Santa Barbara County (ICU) has now dropped to 0% as the country reported the highest COVID-19 in one day.
Public health officer, dr. Henning Ansorg, said the situation in Santa Barbara County is now ‘dire’.
“In light of our current situation, I am lost. I honestly do not know what to say anymore. Many people are blatantly ignoring all warnings,” he told a news conference on Tuesday.
On Monday alone, there were 456 new COVID-19 cases, six deaths and 1,949 active cases. All of these statistics were at the highest level the country has ever seen since the start of the pandemic, Dr. Van Do-Reynoso, director of the PHD, said.
Graph of daily COVID-19 cases from March to today (Source: SBC Public Health)
On Tuesday, another 341 new cases and seven deaths were reported. All individuals were over 70 years of age, five had underlying health conditions, and four were associated with an outbreak at a community housing facility. Two individuals lived in the city of Santa Barbara, two were from the city of Santa Maria, one in the city of Goleta, one in the uninformed area of Goleta and one in the Santa Ynez Valley.
This brings the total deaths to 173. The number of active cases is now 2,105, with 172 hospitalizations, including 55 in the ICU.
Dr. Do-Reynoso said hospitals’ staff treatment beds were running out and started using training beds a few days ago, as the province’s capacity is now below 1%. Hospitals are now preparing for crisis care, which means that someone with health needs other than COVID-19 may not receive the health care they would normally expect.
The hospital’s training protocol works to reuse staff and rooms to accommodate infectious patients and to discharge patients early while also working with ambulances to determine who really needs emergency care and who can be diverted, Drs. Care said.
In addition, testing positivity and cases are at a record high, nearly seven times the threshold for the widespread threshold for reopening businesses. In December alone, there were 28 outbreaks in businesses in almost every sector and 48 outbreaks in community care institutions.
“What used to be less risky is now risky given the widespread infection in our country,” said Dr. Do-Reynoso said.
Officials have once again confirmed that the increase in cases and deaths is directly related to travel and gatherings during the holidays. The current rise is directly attributed to Thanksgiving, while we still had to see the peak from the Christmas and New Year holidays.
“I understand that people are tired of the pandemic, but the denial of the facts only makes things worse. There are the most dangerous behaviors, for example, to travel and collect, especially if they are not wearing masks,” said Dr. Care said.
Graph of available beds available for adults from August 2020 to December 2020 (Source: SBC Public Health)
Vaccination update
Santa Barbara County has so far administered 54% of the vaccine award, Drs. Do-Reynoso said. PHD is currently concentrating on Phase 1a which vaccinates healthcare workers, staff and residents in long-term care institutions, which vaccinates older and high-risk staff, EMS staff and dialysis centers.
PHD has 42 approved vaccination sites as suppliers build up their logistics in preparation for distribution. By next week, PHD plans to offer 350 to 500 vaccines a day, ending in 1,000 doses a day in early February.
The general community is expected to be able to receive the vaccine by March or April.
More information on the distribution of vaccines can be found at https://publichealthsbc.org/vaccine/.