COVID-19 numbers decrease as deaths increase

By edhat staff

Officials in the Department of Public Health in Santa Barbara County (PHD) said the case and the test of positivity are declining, but deaths continue to increase.

During the press conference on Friday, dr. Van Do-Reynoso, director of the PHD, said the good news is that the two statistics peaked on January 9 and have declined over the past thirteen days. Although this is encouraging news, we are not out of the woods yet because there is a high prevalence of COVID in our community., She said.

Hospitalizations and intensive care units (ICUs) remain high due to the number of higher cases. In the last three weeks, almost three times as many people have died compared to the peak weeks in the summer. Today it was reported that 11 people died due to the virus.

Public Health Officer, Dr. Henning Ansorg, said that we are simply seeing more deaths because there are more cases of the virus. During the peak of the summer, the highest ICU admission was 35 and currently the province has more than 50 admissions for weeks on end.

Do-Reynoso also warned that the upswing this summer lasted three months before the case and the test of positivity declined significantly. Given the significantly higher winter peak, PHD expects a much longer time frame for widespread transmission to stop.

PHD clinics continue to offer healthcare professionals and those over the age of 75 the option to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Since January, PHD has allocated 81% of the vaccines to community providers that include hospitals, pharmacies, emergency care and other clinics, while 19% is retained to serve the community.

Dr. Ansorg confirmed that the amount of Moderna vaccine that caused allergic reactions in several people in California has been cleared for use, although no one in the country has received this group. However, there were two allergic reactions that required medical attention. He said both patients sustained no permanent damage and recovered quickly with the appropriate treatment.

PHD hopes that the availability of more vaccine will increase significantly in the next two to three weeks.

The numbers

“In the first three weeks of 2021, we saw more than 8,000 new cases of COVID-19 and our healthcare system was severely affected,” the PHD said Thursday.

PHD reported 353 new cases and six more deaths on Thursday. Three individuals were 70+ and three were 50-69 years old. Five individuals had underlying health conditions and two deaths were accompanied by an outbreak in a community care facility. Two people lived in Santa Maria, one in Lompoc, one in Northern County without incorporation, one in Goleta Valley / Gaviota and one in Goleta.

PHD reported 238 new cases and 11 new deaths on Friday.

Eight individuals were 70+ and three were 50-69 years old. Eight individuals had underlying health conditions and seven deaths were related to an outbreak in a community care facility. Five lived in Santa Barbara, two in Goleta, two in Orcutt, one in Santa Maria and one in the northern province who were not incorporated.

There are currently 2176 active cases with 187 hospitalizations, including 50 in the ICU. The ICU availability remains at 0%.

More information can be found at publichealthsbc.org

Increasing cases in the prison in the province

It was found that four additional sheriff’s staff and one COVID-19 prisoner were positive. It was found that one deputy of the sheriff, two deputies of custody and one of our professional staff members COVID-19 is positive. This brings the total number of sheriff employees who tested positive for COVID-19 to 103, with 85 recovering and returning to work.

One COVID-19 prisoner was found to be positive at the time of ingestion and has since been released. There are currently 33 active COVID-19 cases in jail, five fewer than our previous press release. The total number of prisoners who tested positive for COVID-19 during the main prison during the pandemic is 160.