Following the latest plan for a safer economic evaluation, Santa Barbara County met all the moderate orange level criteria for the first time on Tuesday and is on track to officially advance to the less restrictive orange level next week.
The province reported an adjusted rate of 4.6 daily new cases per 100,000 people, a 1.9% positivity test and a 2.7% health equity test positivity rate.
All three statistics have declined since the previous reporting period.
If the province maintains these low numbers next week, it will progress to the orange level as soon as April 20, the director of public health, Van Do-Reynoso, said at the COVID-19 briefing on Friday.
The province must meet all the orange level criteria for two consecutive weeks to officially move on to the next level.
Advancing to the orange level means expanding indoor and outdoor capacity for restaurants and entertainment venues, as well as easing restrictions for other industry sectors.
Public health officials in Santa Barbara County on Tuesday reported only 11 new cases of COVID-19 and no additional deaths for the seventh day in a row.
The province’s cumulative COVID-19 death toll remained at 441.
There were 143 cases still considered contagious throughout the country. According to Noozhawk’s data detection, the daily number of active cases since November 7, 2020 is not so low.
21 COVID-19 patients were admitted to the hospital, including four in intensive care units. The country’s ICU availability rate was 29.9%.
Of Tuesday’s new cases, five were from the Santa Maria Valley, four from Santa Barbara and one from the Goleta Valley. One issue still depends on geographic location.
According to the province’s community data dashboard, 21.5% of the country’s population was fully vaccinated as of Monday.
The California Department of Public Health announced Tuesday that it has instructed health care providers to suspend the use of the single-shot vaccine Johnson & Johnson.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended the break on Tuesday out of sheer caution, state epidemiologist Erica Pan said.
Of more than 6.8 million doses administered nationally, six cases of a rare and severe blood clot have been found, with symptoms occurring six to 13 days after vaccination, Pan said.
The public health department in Santa Barbara County will follow the direction of the state and interrupt the administration of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine until further notice, Public Health spokeswoman Jackie Ruiz told Noozhawk.
Any clinics planned to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week will not be canceled, but rather the Moderna vaccine, she added.
– Author Jade Martinez-Pogue of Noozhawk staff can be reached (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Get in touch with Noozhawk on Facebook.