The Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health announced Friday the first pediatric death related to COVID-19, as well as 186 new cases of the disease.
Officials said the Santa Maria resident who died was between 12 and 17 years old and had underlying conditions.
“This devastating news reminds us of the seriousness of this pandemic,” public health director Van Do-Reynoso said during Friday’s press conference. “I again urge all members of the community to stay safe by avoiding meetings during this winter holiday season as cases, hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise across our country, our state and our county “.
In addition, the Department of Public Health reported on Friday a second death from COVID-19. The person was a Lompoc resident over the age of 70 with underlying medical conditions, officials said.
The two deaths reported Friday were not associated with an outbreak of COVID-19 at a facility congregated in the county, according to the department.
The latest report brings the county’s total case to 14,376 residents who tested positive for COVID-19.
Currently, the county is experiencing a “second wave” of COVID-19 activity, according to Do-Reynoso.
“Our first wave was during the summer months,” Do-Reynoso said. “This second wave started in early November and will probably be bigger than our first wave.”
Public Health officials have been preparing to see an increase in positive COVID-19 cases after the recent Thanksgiving weekend, when some residents ignored the urgency of avoiding travel or meeting. be with other people outside your immediate home.
There have been 1,519 new cases of COVID-19 in the county in the last seven days, with an average of 217 cases per day.
An uncertain future is posed as COVID-19 metrics continue to increase amid an increase in community transmission.
“It’s not clear how long this increase in COVID-19 will last in our community,” Do-Reynoso said.
This holiday season, Do-Reynoso said, public health officials are concerned that positive cases of COVID-19 from meeting family and friends will continue.
The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is growing in the county, with recent records “as high as they have ever been,” Do-Reynoso said.
Gregg Hart, chairman of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors, provides an update on Friday’s meeting with California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly. County officials called on Ghaly to “give our region the opportunity to better control our own destiny in creating a new Central Coast subregion” with the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo. , said Hart. (Photo by Brooke Holland / Noozhawk)
On Friday, 90 patients were treated at local hospitals. Of these patients, 24 were in intensive care units.
The Southern California region had 0% bed capacity in the ICU on Friday, while county availability was 29.9%. UCI availability in the Southern California region must exceed 15% or more for the county to exit the regional home stay order.
Cottage Health is temporarily reducing the number of elective procedures in response to COVID-19-related capacity issues. The health system operates hospitals in Santa Bárbara, Goleta and Santa Ynez.
“While the good news is that we have ICU capacity right now, staffing remains a major concern,” said Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons, an infectious disease specialist at Cottage Health.
As of Friday, 186 new COVID-19 cases, Santa Maria had 50, Santa Bàrbara had 49, Lompoc had 25, Goleta had 20, the unincorporated area of the Goleta and Gaviota valley had eight, and the valley of Santa Ynez was thirsty. There were five cases in Orcutt, three in the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area and two in Isla Vista and the unincorporated communities of Northern County, which also includes Guadalupe. Geographic locations were pending in 15 cases.
Gregg Hart, chairman of the county Board of Supervisors, talked about how he had a Friday meeting through Zoom with California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly, along with the charges local elected officials.
County officials called on Ghaly to “give our region the opportunity to better control our own destiny in creating a new Central Coast subregion” with the counties of Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo. .
Ghaly “pledged to seriously consider the county’s proposal and pledged to continue the dialogue,” Hart said, adding that Ghaly’s response to the proposal for a new Central Coast subregion was “very encouraging “. Ghaly “expressed his gratitude for the excellent work our county has done, working in partnership with the state to reduce the spread of the virus.”
On December 8, the County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to California Governor Gavin Newsom requesting that the county, along with neighboring Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, be able to leave the region. of Southern California, where he stayed to -order at home.
State Sen. Monique Limón, representing the 19th Senate district, and Assemblyman Steve Bennett, the 37th District Assembly representative, joined Friday’s remote meeting. .
Both Lemon and Bennett “expressed strong support for the county’s proposal to Dr. Ghaly,” Hart said.
“I shared with Dr. Ghaly my concern that local residents are frustrated because they believe their individual actions and our community-wide responses to COVID-19 are being lost in the very broad context of the southern region. California’s 20 million people, ”Hart said.
Hart said he remains “hopeful and optimistic that we can find a path to success.”
Local shelters for the homeless are closed to new entrants because of COVID-19 outbreaks or for fear of outbreaks, Do-Reynoso said.
During the week of Dec. 6-12, Do-Reynoso said the Department of Public Health began investigating and mitigating new outbreaks in 17 congregated establishments and six businesses, including the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department.
“COVID activity is at its highest level ever in our county,” said Do-Reynoso, who added that the disease is widespread.
Meanwhile, a deputy sheriff and a custodial deputy have tested positive for COVID-19, and two positive COVID-19 inmates were detained at the main prison near Santa Barbara, according to sheriff’s spokeswoman Raquel Zick.
That brings the total number of sheriff employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 to 61, and 50 have recovered and returned to work, Zick said.
He noted that the deputy was wearing a mask at work and that the custodial deputy was wearing personal protective equipment while working.
Zick said Friday that two non-COVID-19 inmates were recently booked into the main jail.
“Both inmates were found to be positive for COVID-19 during the dam detection process and are housed in housing areas with negative air pressure, separated from the general population,” Zick said.
To date, a total of 89 positive COVID-19 inmates have been housed in the main prison. Of these, 68 inmates have recovered.
Dr. Henning Ansorg, the county’s public health officer, said Moderna and Pfizer plan to send COVID-19 vaccines “weekly.” Each immunization will be recorded in a specially created national COVID-19 database, Ansorg said.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use permit for the Modern COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, and the county anticipates thousands of doses early next week, according to Do-Reynoso .
On Thursday, the highly anticipated Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Santa Barbara County and local hospital health workers were among the first to receive injections of the COVID-19 vaccine.
To date, at least 727 health workers have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the county’s public health department.
Supply of the COVID-19 vaccine remains limited and Santa Barbara County will implement a phased approach to distribute the vaccine in the coming weeks and months, according to public health officials. The phased distribution of the vaccine will begin for people most at risk of contracting the virus, public health officials said.
After vaccination of hospital staff, the COVID-19 vaccine will be available soon for residents and staff of long-term care facilities, and then for first aid from the medical services system. emergency and dialysis providers.
The initial 3,900 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine arrived, with 1,950 doses at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital and 1,950 doses at Santa Maria Regional Medical Center in Santa Maria, public health officials said Thursday.
The COVID-19 vaccine is expected to be more available to the general public in the spring of 2021.
County public health officials said this week that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine “will work to reduce the risk of contracting the virus and improve our natural defenses by increasing our antibodies to fight the virus.”
Fitzgibbons was one of the first front-line workers to receive the COVID-19 vaccine this week and described how he felt about 24 hours after receiving the shot in the arm.
“He had a slightly sore arm,” Fitzgibbons told a news conference Friday. “I’m grateful I didn’t have any of the brief systemic side effects.”
Click here to search for an interactive map to find a COVID-19 test center in California.
The COVID-19 website of the county Department of Public Health, publichealthsbc.org, provides information on what to do if you have tested positive for the disease, identify yourself as contacting someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, or suspects you have COVID-19. .
Click here for COVID-19 vaccination information in Santa Barbara County.
Click here for the Noozhawk Coronavirus Crisis section.
– Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be contacted . (You need JavaScript enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews i @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.