Health Officer Closes All Santa Barbara County Bars

An outdoor table at O’Malleys on State Street in Santa Barbara (Photo by Donald Teel on Unsplash)

Update by Santa Barbara County Public Health Department
June 29, 2020
 

Santa Barbara County Health Officer, Dr. Henning Ansorg has issued a health officer order mandating the closure of local bars at the recommendation of the California Department of Public Health. This guidance is effective at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. This Order will continue until 5 p.m. on July 26, 2020 or until it is extended, rescinded, superseded, or amended in writing.

The following guidelines must be followed:

  • Brewpubs, breweries, bars, and pubs, should close unless they are offering sit-down, dine-in meals. Alcohol may only be sold in the same transaction as a meal.
  • Dine-in restaurants, brewpubs, breweries, bars, and pubs that provide sit-down meals should follow the dine-in restaurant guidance and should continue to encourage takeout and delivery service whenever possible.
  • Brewpubs, breweries, bars, and pubs that do not provide sit-down meals, but wish to operate under this Order must obtain an Emergency Food Permit.

Wineries and tasting rooms may remain open at this time. Additional guidance and the full health officer order can be found here.

“We have made the decision to close bars to be in compliance with State guidance, especially since our case count continues to rise day by day. This action, particularly in anticipation of the holiday weekend, is a proactive measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 locally,” said Dr. Henning Ansorg. “We have to keep each other safe during this time. Changing our habits by making physical distancing and wearing a face covering part of our daily routines will save lives.”

This health officer order is closing bars due to the findings that physical movement of people within bars, the duration of time spent in the establishment, and the degree of social mixing within individuals and groups are all greater in these settings.

More information about the COVID-19 response locally, visit www.publichealthsbc.org or call the County Call Center at 1(833) – 688 – 5551.


Governor Recommends Closing Santa Barbara and Ventura County Bars

By edhat staff
June 28, 2020
 

Governor Gavin Newsom ordered the closure of bars in seven counties and recommended the closure in eight others including Santa Barbara and Ventura.

The order and recommendations were put in place to a rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the state after the majority of business sectors were allowed to reopen.

On Sunday afternoon, Newsom posted an alert on twitter stating, “Due to the rising spread of #COVID19, CA is ordering bars to close in Fresno, Imperial, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, San Joaquin, and Tulare, while recommending they close in Contra Costa, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Stanislaus, & Ventura.”

“COVID-19 is still circulating in California, and in some parts of the state, growing stronger,” wrote Newsom in a statement. “That’s why it is critical we take this step to limit the spread of the virus in the counties that are seeing the biggest increases.”

California Public Health Department (CDPH) Director Dr. Sonia Angell stated they are actively monitoring COVID-19 across the state and are working closely with counties where there are increased rates and concerning patterns of transmission. “Closing bars in these counties is one of a number of targeted actions counties are implementing across our state to slow the virus’ spread and reduce risk,” she said in a written statement.

The CDPH guidance recommended that counties on the County Monitoring List close bars for three or more consecutive days, but less than 14 days, through local health officer order. Santa Barbara County, who has been on the monitoring list for 13 days, might be mandated to issue a health officer order to close bars given the rising case count locally.

The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (PHD) is strongly considering options to address these concerns and is continuing to track local metrics while hoping to have further updates regarding the State’s recommendation in the coming days., according to a press release issued Sunday evening.

The actions defined in the guidance include the closure of brewpubs, breweries, bars, and pubs, unless they are offering sit-down, dine-in meals. Wineries and tasting rooms are not included in this recommendation. 

According to CDPH, bars are social environments where groups of people mix. In these environments, alcohol consumption reduces inhibition and impairs judgment, leading to reduced compliance with recommended core personal protective measures, such as the mandatory use of face coverings and the practice of social and physical distancing. Bars are generally louder environments requiring raised voices leading to the greater projection of droplets. These factors present a higher likelihood of transmission of COVID-19 within groups, between groups, and among the workforce.

“I implore all community members to adhere to strict physical distancing at all times and avoid gatherings. Until there is a vaccine, the use of face coverings in conjunction with physical distancing is the most effective way to stop the spread of this virus,” said Dr. Henning Ansorg, Health Officer for Santa Barbara County. “The State’s recommendation comes at a critical time. There is still an opportunity to make a difference in the course of this pandemic, but we must all recommit to this effort.”

On Friday, Santa Barbara County Public Health reported 81 new COVID-19 positive cases bringing the grand total to 2,712 with 54 recovering and 20 of those in the intensive care unit. However, health officials stated some percentages of cases are decreasing and hospitals are equipped to handle a potential increase of patients.

This past Friday also marked the local health officer’s approval to reopen previously closed personal service businesses including nail salons and tattoo parlors.

CDPH released a new website forecasting a series of metrics for all counties. The CalCat tool forecasts that Santa Barbara County will have a total of 309 COVID-19 related deaths and 154 daily hospitalizations by the end of July. The county is currently recording 28 deaths and 53 daily hospitalizations.

 


[This article has been updated with information from the Santa Barbara County Health Department]

Edhat Staff

Written by Edhat Staff

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119 Comments

  1. I am a long time resident and spend a lot of time at the waterfront areas. I often ask tourist “where are you from” and welcome to Santa Barbara. There has always been a nice response and shared stories about their distant communities, countries and culture. I am fortunate to have traveled to these places.
    However, when I asked that same question recently, I get this strange look, they hibernate behind their cars and basically tell me to back off and it’s none of my business. They just shut down. Welcome to SB!

  2. Newsom has had our backs unlike a national leader & his minions, so I say do whatever he feels is correct as he gets scientific/health-based facts from professionals. We all know one person in this country that refuses to listen to science/health based professionals and national entities.

  3. i really could care less about what other people do – WERE IT NOT FOR THE FACT THAT THEIR STUPIDITY COULD COST OTHER’S THEIR LIVES ! in my travels i was told something that, as an american, i found quite profound – i was told by a rather young person from singapore that “americans take the word ‘freedom’ too literally”. the more we try to grab “freedom” by the neck, the more it “freely” slips through our fingers. the person who told me this was probably less than 15 years old. think we MIGHT be missing something ? huh ?

  4. Covid -19 has killed 120,000 people in the USA within 4 months. Yet 9/11 which killed a mere 3,000 people is mourned every year, twenty years later. Imagine what that number would be if lockdown didn’t occur?
    Still, it’s way too early to discuss true death rates and appropriate reactions. What people still don’t seem to realise is that this thing isn’t over. It is only just beginning.

  5. I am not surprised many of us saw this coming. Now the ones who all along bitched and refused to wear masks are bitching again. It’s jaw dropping like they think the virus doesn’t exist and petulantly want life to continue as normal well folks it WON”T be normal for a long time now, and longer still if ppl keep shirking masks and social distancing. I give it 1 week before it’s mandatory. 20 out of 80 is alot of ppl in ICU.

  6. I hope we are forced into closure. Maybe Santa Barbara shouldn’t have been allowing visitors from LA or surrounding regions. I’ve been saying keep tourists away for weeks now. If we had maybe we wouldn’t be experiencing such a spike. Shut down the hotels, nail and hair salons too.

  7. I, from the throne of my paid off mcmansion, whilst drawing my 90% pension, would prefer we shut down the lesslings completely, until at which time it is determined I may safely valet my Bentley without the slightest hint of presumed danger.

  8. Such a shame, the United States paid the economic price of a shutdown but too many of our citizens and politicians didn’t have the discipline to see it through. We should be joining much of the developed world which has beaten back the first wave of the virus significantly and yet it surges here.

  9. Why don’t you open such a bar and when the virus tracers show you facilitated the gathering and infection of dozens of people you’ll be sued to within an inch of your kids’ futures. Can you spell L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y? No wonder other countries are closing their borders to American travelers.

  10. Insanity. The reality is showing up in death counts. Despite “exploding” cases and a huge increase in testing, fatalities have remained well below April, the height of the outbreak. Quick, round up those careless, thoughtless wild beach partygoers and drunkards at the bars! Close the playgrounds! Shut down 10-member family gatherings! Good thing we didn’t get around to defunding the police yet! We were all staying safely home apart together (or was it together apart?) for 15 days (or was it 30 days? or two months? or six months? or indefinitely?). The expressed goal: keep the “curve” of serious new cases, hospitalizations and intensive-care unit use from rising too quickly and overwhelming the health care system. We have done that. There has been a big reduction in the median age of positive tests from 60-somethings to 33, an age at which the ill are much less at risk for serious clinical consequences. The uptick in the 15-44 age group, showing positivity rates close to 20%, is comprised of largely asymptomatic or experiencing symptoms “so mild that they would not even have to seek medical attention.” There were 4226 “cases” in California yesterday; there were 1957 on April 21. There were 32 deaths in California yesterday; there were 121 on April 22. If you can’t see the meaning of this data, I feel sorry for you. Closing things down again is complete lunacy.

  11. Yes Newsom DID have our backs. At first. At first he did such a good job keeping California’s numbers low that I was telling all my friends I hoped he’d run for president. But now he’s about as bad as the orange one in “opening up and let er rip,” California is now among the highest spiking states. I wish people would stop making this all about politics. There have been big mistakes made by ALL sides. Of course Trump is the most laughable. But Trump has said it is up to each state to make their own corona virus decisions. Democrat- run states don’t have to listen to Trump’s nonsense, so what is the excuse for democrat -run states messing up? We aren’t going to solve this by passing the buck or magical thinking that as long as we are democrat-run we are doing fine. Democrat leaders also must be held accountable and spurred on to better decisions.

  12. GOOSEBERRIES: I have a friend who lives in Prince Edward Island, Canada, which is very much a beautiful and touristy beach destination during the summers. He says they closed the island to outsiders. You must own property AND be able to prove that you can quarantine there for 14 days before you’re allowed on the island. They’ve had 27 cases out of a population of 150,000. They’re also lucky in that they’re and island and can control who comes and goes to a large extent.

  13. For all you naysayers, continue not wearing a mask, keeping at least 6+ feet from others, never washing your hands, and rolling the dice. Please, too, have good health care insurance because I sure don’t need to support you and your bullheadedness all the way to the mortuary. Will I cry? Hah!

  14. Many counties are still seeing rising case counts that coincide with the protests the the first week of June per the CA Covid-19 dashboard. I have no intention of going in any bar or restaurant at this point anyway, but I believe it should be a personal choice. Educate yourself on the risks and act appropriately. The advice for mountaineers is applicable here: Nature sets the terms and you must choose to accept them.

  15. What’s are the most important #s?
    Deaths and hospitalization.
    Not how many people have it.
    That was the goal of social distancing & shutting down. There is no cure, and a vaccine may never be developed as these pesky bugs adapt Just like swine flu, no vaccine. It disappeared on its own.
    For those if you collecting unemployment, plus the Covid bonus, good for you. Totally u sets tabs why you want to stay at home. You’re making more money sitting in your tush.
    But you may not have a job to go back to and the Covid money us running out.
    As to freedom, we are a country that asks questions and do t just accept to dogma dished out by government officials in their ivory towers eating $12/gallon ice cream. Politicians only care about themselves and their paychecks.
    Coronaviruses have been around for centuries. Thus one was in a lab where they were studying it. Yet they still don’t know what they’re doing.
    I believe in maintaining the line of overwhelming the hospitals.
    Talk to the hospitals, they are not close to being overwhelmed here in SB county.
    Let people earn a living and put food in their families tables. All of you collecting Covid bonuses shouldn’t have a voice, you are biased.
    I’m watching business after business closing their doors putting people on unemployment. It’s sad to see the “cure” being worse than the disease.
    As to masks, if your susceptible. Wear a medical grade mask. Why would you put your life in other peoples hands. That’s irresponsible if you.
    And for Gods sake, wash your damn hands and practice good hygiene! You’re spreading disease by not washing your hands. Forget the mask, I’d take a mandatory hand sanitizing over a mask any day. Stop touching everything SVD then taking your mask off spreading the germs to yourself.
    Stay safe, stay human, stay open & encouraging. We are all going through this.

  16. Your post is low information and my only take away from reading it is that you believe everyone is abusing unemployment benefits. Bless your little heart. .Hospitalizations and deaths are going up across the country. Hospitalizations are going up here. Give it another month or two we will have overflowing hospitals and morgues. Texas is already getting overrun and shifting patients between hospitals. Lind of guessing you took advantage of the “Covid Bonus.”

  17. I have a social media account with a fair amount of followers that I personally know being born and raised in Santa Barbara, correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t it irresponsible for health care workers, CNA’s and people who work with children to take OR MAKE proper measures and decisions based on their job titles and responsibilities? I know I KNOOOWWW everyone has a right to make their own decisions but wouldn’t it be just the right human conscious COMMON SENSE choice to not be exposing yourself after working your nurse shift at cottage? Bragging about working with COVID 19 patients and also those who work with old people and kids??? I see too much of this I don’t trust anyone at all out there, stay safe everyone, don’t stay in too much don’t wear a mask every single minute of the day only where they require you to wear one and go out and get sun, stay away from shady people, like those who think it’s necessary to go clubbing because god forbid you miss out on a drinking binge night with “the girls” or with “the boys” and before anyone tries to talk crap I have plenty of friends we are just smart and chose to hang out at home and have bbqs rather then be club rats lol

  18. Worldometer is not a very reliable site as far as data quality. You’d be better off with a real medical site like Johns Hopkins University. Citations below from the Wikipedia article on them:
    ======================================================================================
    “Worldometer has faced criticism over transparency of ownership, lack of citations to data sources, and unreliability of its COVID-19 statistics and rankings. The website reported that 18,000 people recovered from coronavirus in Spain on April 24, compared to the Spanish government figure of 3,105 recoveries for that day.”
    ======================================================================================
    “Edouard Mathieu, the data manager of Our World in Data, stated that “Their main focus seems to be having the latest number [of COVID-19 cases] wherever it comes from, whether it’s reliable or not, whether it’s well-sourced or not.””
    ======================================================================================
    “Virginia Pitzer, a Yale University epidemiologist, said that the site is “legitimate”, but flawed, inconsistent, and containing errors.”
    ======================================================================================
    “On the English Wikipedia, editors reached a consensus not to cite Worldometer for coronavirus statistics.”

  19. Why are those in charge of contact tracing telling the tracers not to ask if someone attended a protest? That is not right. I personally feel they either are concerned about liability from allowing the protests or are shielding organizers from liability. We should have recourse if we are infected or if a family member dies from contracting it from someone acting negligently/recklessly – at least have thea bility to go to court and get a ruling. Not right. Contact tracers must ask if someone was at a protest too.

  20. From what I have been noticing, theses young people could care less about the disease or getting it. They are out playing at bars and such hanging on each other. Not wearing masks, and not practicing necessary distancing guidelines. Sadly, it doesn’t looks like we will be out of the woods for a very very long time.

  21. 4:09 – No, not true in the slightest. Can you please provide links to “what we are seeing now” about the protests spreading covid? On the contrary, science and research are showing the the BLM protests had little to do with the spread, rather the increase coming from indoor, unmasked activity. Here, take a look for yourself —— https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/black-lives-matter-protests-haven-t-led-covid-19-spikes-n1232045 —— https://www.popsci.com/story/health/black-lives-matter-protests-covid-19-transmission/ ——- https://www.kqed.org/science/1966378/no-coronavirus-spike-from-black-lives-matter-protests-experts-say ——- https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/24/us/coronavirus-cases-protests-black-lives-matter-trnd/index.html ——— https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/24/us/coronavirus-cases-protests-black-lives-matter-trnd/index.html ——– —— In fact, if you Google “covid cases BLM protest,” you won’t even see any links to studies showing what you suggest. That Google search phrase is completely neutral and one would think, if it were a real thing, there’d be tons of articles on both sides…… NOPE.

  22. BIGMAN – would you have the same passion for “recourse” if you or your family member got it from a campaign rally in Tulsa? Did BLM ever encourage people to not wear masks? Did BLM ever call this pandemic a hoax? Think really hard before wishing for legal action against event organizers.

  23. BIGMAN – you keep saying this. Where is your evidence? I provided 5 sources for my claim that the protests weren’t the cause of the spike. Where’s your science on yours? And no, clicking an arrow is not “evidence.”

  24. SACJON absolutely. I don’t care if it’s a negligent business, if it’s my employer being negligent, a rally or a protest. I’m sorry but, look at what is happening. PPL are coming out of this virus with permanent damage. As long as ppl are doing things right – and protests AND rallies are NOT – then that’s fine but at some point those being reckless and negligent must be held accountable. Perhaps fear of that will get people to sit up and pay attention and act responsibly. BLM doesn’t have to tell people to not wear masks to be negligent. You should research what negligence is. Recklessness. It’s obvious not everyone would wear masks plus there was little distancing. Totally foreseeable.

  25. BIGMAN – do you have a law degree? I’ve studied negligence plenty and it is not simple “recklessness.” The first question is – did BLM have a duty of care towards protesters? Not all of them, for sure. Many of these protests were not “organized” by BLM, they were local, regional and in the cases of the first protests, were entirely spontaneous. They were organized by local community leaders, etc in the name of BLM as a theme, not an event organizer. BLM likely had no duty to these people from a legal standpoint (except to those directly organized by BLM), as they were not affiliated in that sense. Therefore there was no “breach” of any duty, which would then put us into a causation analysis which I’m not going into now. Furthermore, for those protests legitimately “organized” by BLM, in order for there to be some breach of the duty of care towards the protesters, BLM would have had to encourage violation of, or in the very least ignore, the mask and social distance orders. Every protest page/flyer, etc I saw, it was clear that people were expected to act “safely” and wear mask. To wrap it up here, it will definitely NOT be as simple as you think to find any negligence and liability in BLM. On the other hand, there have been MANY recent events where the organizers and the President of the US have encouraged open defiance of the mask and distance orders…… that’s another story though…

  26. They coming here to Santa Barbara, I saw on the new last night, come to Santa Barbara enjoy the food and drinking, this weekend will be busy here, then the next surge. Santa Barbara will be closed down again, the following week. I hope all the stores, bars , wineries demand a face mask to be worn or no service, have the hand sanitizer at the doors.

  27. In order to stop the spread, large events and gatherings of ANY KIND were at first forbidden. This was considered one of the main ways to stop the spread. Why did this thinking change? For political reasons? My friends and relatives who are performing artists are going bankrupt. All their concerts have been canceled. THEY are still not allowed to have a large gathering, unlike some other favored groups. I don’t care if it’s a Trumpian mask protest or a BLM protest–this is just one heck of a terrible time for any protest. Any big gathering is so not a good idea. There is no control over people’s behavior at such big events . If event organizers of ANY kind think they are off the hook because they mention people should wear masks, they are not. It is widely known that unless you take an N95 away from a health care worker, so to speak, the kind of masks available to people offer only a small percent of protection even if everyone wears one–and wears it correctly. Available masks absolutely do not provide full protection –especially if people are in big groups yelling and bunched up close to each other.

  28. What doesn’t make any sense to me is the hysteria… “WE’RE CLOSING THE BARS!… in two days. ” The same thing happened with other businesses shutting down, and the mandate on mask wearing. “It’s out of control. We must do something!…. in two days.” I’m not questioning spread, but if it’s truly dire – why wait two days?

  29. Too bad those who exercise their “freedom to choose” not to wear masks and to congregate in person could be identified somehow so that the of their freedom is that if they get sick, they are “free to choose” to treat it themselves or pay for hospitalization or a funeral whichever comes first. Freedom comes with a cost: responsibility. Disconnecting the two leads to abuse just as “free” napkins & catsup leads some people to grab handfuls they dont use and throw away.

  30. what many fail to realize is “recovered” means no longer testing + for covid. It doesn’t mean healthy. Some will live the remainder of their lives with permanent organ, brain, heart, kidney and lung damage. It’s not JUST about hospitalization and death rates, it’s about long term health consequences.

  31. Most people are embarrassed by being acknowledged at putting others at risk of a horrible disease or death so they can play. Some may even be ashamed at coming here knowing they could be bringing Covid to many.

  32. Too late to close the barn door: the horse is loose. If we could cordon the place off like a military base, we’d still see consequences for 2 weeks, more for those whose blood infections–the basis for this–ravage them. Deep vein thrombosis clots that travel to the heart and cause attacks or to the brain causing strokes; damaged kidneys resulting in life-long need for dialysis. This is a systemic disease carried by blood, not a cold. It has potential for being a physical & medical expense for a lifetime.

  33. Hey everyone, Mike Pence has finally asked for people to wear masks and socially distance, in Texas no less! It only took 4 months , 2.6 million cases and 127,000 American deaths for the VP to say “wear a mask”. How much more will it take for the president to say this on camera?

  34. BO – Nope. The dates of contact and disease development correlate with the reopening, not the later protests. Sticking your fingers in your ears doesn’t make the world conform to your desired outcomes, especially considering where you seem to keep your fingers.

  35. It is rather interesting. If we are truly “making data-driven decisions,” why not let us see what the contact tracing data says. My guess is we have spent hundreds of thousands of tax payer dollars on contact tracing to date. What does the data tell us? Of the almost 2K community spread cases, what does the contact tracing data say? My guess is fairly specific information can be given without violating HIPAA. If the data shows it’s the bars, great, shut them down. Otherwise, I think we’re barking up the wrong tree. The data we do see shows almost half the cases are in North County. Why aren’t we locking it down?

  36. If you listen to the mainstream media, you might be convinced that opening early killed the masses in Texas, Arizona and Florida. But a big part of the “spike” in cases is because of testing. We’re completing five times as many tests every day as we did in mid-April when the pandemic actually hit its peak. Yet deaths are decreasing daily, which is what is important. It’s also worth noting that this recent uptick in cases started exactly 14 days after the beginning of mass protests. Despite that, the mainstream media will try to tell you that the protests didn’t cause the spread because many in the mobs were wearing masks. These stories are being extremely selective. That’s because the actual epicenter of the pandemic in our country is currently in California, and California never really reopened and when it partially opened, it did so late. Here are the facts for you to ponder: Yesterday, California had 5240 cases and 31 deaths; Florida had 8530 cases and 27 deaths; Arizona had 3857 cases and 9 deaths; and Texas had 4330 cases nd 10 deaths. There is no consistency in any of this. And, as a reminder, we can thank the CCP for all of this panic, suffering, misery, and unnecessary death.

  37. The problem with the increased positive cases in the 18-49 group is that they will take it home to grandma. There have been more than a few proven instances in other states of large gatherings spreading to families and including 18 + people – including 80 year old grandparents and cancer patients – cancer patients who were only outdoors AND distanced themselves by at least 6 ft. Still infected. I am surprised that you cannot make the connection that increased cases (esp asymptomatic) = increased spread to those at the most risk. But go ahead…if you are anything like the folks on my IG feed, you are enjoying your road trips and backyard teenaged birthday parties with 30+ kids and no masks. I’m sure NONE of those kids are seeing their grandparents and they are all properly quarantining for the next 2 weeks.

  38. Why July 1st and not immediately? County health officials announced that they were expanding the businesses that could re-open to include massage parlors, nail salons, and a list of other personal service enterprises that includes among other things genital piercing. Why not keep them all closed until it is safe? None of these businesses are essential, except to the owners, for whom I feel very bad. COVID-19 is not their fault, but it does spread indiscriminately inside buildings where social distancing is not possible, like bars and restaurants and other similar places. The last three times that I have had to go out for groceries or a medical procedure, I have been counting mask wearers and non-mask waters, now that the Gov mandated wearing them in public. I counted 40 people wearing masks out of 141 who were not in vehicles or business establishments – just walking on the sidewalk or running. That’s 28/%. I don’t think people are taking this seriously enough. And, as much as I am jonesing for a good genital piercing, it can wait.
    ‘;/?

  39. SACJON wrong group who is owed a duty of care. It’s all of us – as a whole. Same theory as attractive nuisance, public nuisance and the like. And yes I have a law degree and am a litigator. We’ll see what happens in the courts because not sure if you know but even employers now face potential liability if someone gets sick at work – depending on the standard of care they applied. Same will likely happen with business owners and anyone who organizes protests that put the greater public at large in danger. These are uncharted waters and I suspect many cases will come down out of this.

  40. On June 26 US deaths from COVID were reported at 2437. This is the fifth most for any day since this pandemic hit us. So, no, deaths are not “decreasing daily.” Why say such things which threaten people’s personal safety when others read them? Are politics more important than facts? (Seems like a wasted rhetorical question.)

  41. Pasty Pence sees the handwriting on the wall for his potential 2024 presidential bid and may have been slapped into submission by Mother.
    As far as too vain Trump, he’s an old dog that is mentally incapable of learning any tricks. He needs to be put out to pasture on November 3rd.

  42. RHS, where are you getting that data? Please let us know. My data comes from World of Meteres and is also confirmed on the John Hopkins site. The total deaths in the U.S. on June 26 was 663. On June 28, it was 285. Politics has nothing to do with this data, only how the media interprets and presents it to a gullible public. Here are the actual facts that you can see for yourself with daily cases, deaths, by entire country or by state here: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/ So, yes, deaths are decreasing and for you to spread your “report” is unfounded by the data.

  43. I found this interesting in the UCSB COVID testing article on EdHat this eve,
    “ Direct close contact is defined by SBCPHD as being within 6 feet of the individual while not wearing a mask for a time period of 10 minutes or longer.”
    So passing by someone in a grocery store or hardware store is not a concern to the SBCPHD?
    What about the checker or bagger at the store? How about the waiter/waitresses, etc.,..?
    Data, numbers;
    Are our hospitals in South County or North County overwhelmed?
    Are the patients being treating from the area or were they moved here?
    Hospitalizations have not kept pace with the number of new cases.
    Good news, right?
    Has the death toll gotten “out of hand”?
    I understand hospitalization and deaths will lag new cases, but to date the death rate of those infected in SB has been less than 1% including the prison, Lompoc and Santa Maria where most of the cases have been.
    To date less than 1% of SB County has tested positive.
    I’d say SB has done a great job so far. I’m also saying, toe the line, be responsible.
    And remember the experts are still figuring all of this out, like the above statement regarding 10 minutes of exposure. I hadn’t heard that one before. And the WHO says 1 meter, 3.2 feet, for social distancing. Masks were just mandated a couple weeks ago after COVID being around for five months here and 7-8 months overseas. And this is a virus and spreads similar to other viruses, yet they’re still guessing.
    Please remember, there are other battles going on, like paying rent and putting food on the table. Depression, social anxieties, stress, fear, etc..
    So stay home if you are concerned, don’t patronize businesses that do not sanitize between every customer, wear a medical grade mask, practice good hygiene, sterilize before you take your mask off and sterilize everything before it enters your car and home.
    And remember we will get through this as we have for centuries.

  44. Worldometers isn’t a verified and trusted source. Also, deaths lag behind positive cases by about 14 days. Models from reputable sources show the death rate and hospitalization rate growing significantly in the next month. More testing will inevitably capture more positive tests, but to deny the fact that we’re having an ongoing pandemic with continued spread is contrary to all evidence that we have and everything that we know about the behavior of the virus. Do you have college experience in statistics? Doesn’t seem like it- no offense.

  45. I also said John Hopkins reported the same number. Do you trust them? World of Meters publishes their data compiling it from several verified sources so they can’t all be wrong.
    Here are some other info to ponder from USA Today, which I don’t really like but others seem to love them: “On Sunday, New York state reported just five coronavirus deaths, which is the lowest seen since March 15, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Just 616 of New York’s almost 62,000 tests Saturday resulted in positive diagnoses, a rate of 0.99%, Cuomo said.” And from John Hopkins, once again: “The spike in deaths on 6/25 is due to New Jersey adding over 1,800 probable deaths to the state’s totals.” I’ll say it one more time, deaths increasing would be a major concern but cases increasing was to be expected and has been predicted from multiple sources almost from the beginning of all this.

  46. Not everyone on unemployment is “sitting on their tush”… nor does it mean they don’t want life to go back to normal. Some of us have had multiple hardships aside from this virus that were only compounded by the virus. Thank GOD for that government money that our own taxes went to pay for. A little help does not make one lazy. What an assumption!

  47. They are already here! We took a Sunday drive only to see the waterfront simply crawling with tourists, none of them wearing masks or social distancing! Turned right back around, windows rolled up and went home where it’s safe. Sheer idiocy abounds out there.

  48. SHUT IT ALL DOWN! — Hate to say I told you so, but here we are. Everything opened way too fast. What about this virus don’t people understand? It’s real, it’s here, there is science to prove that wearing masks helps GREATLY to cut down transmission rates, yet we have the blind followers of the orange traitor-in-chief who pound on their chest screaming about : “FREEDOM” and their right to choose… and also “law and order” all the while condemning a woman’s reproductive rights. Funny, that. SMH

  49. If my kids can’t play baseball (considered a “medium risk” sport by the CDC), then why should adults be able to sit in crowded bars getting drunk and yelling and doing what drunk people in crowded spaces do? This is stupid. I get that people need to keep businesses running to put food on their plates, but bars are NOT essential, nor are they in any way a safe place to be during a pandemic. Close them down, drink at home.

  50. Bigone, update your analysis using hospitalizations and ICU rates and your conclusions won’t be erroneous due to variations in testing results. Hospitalizations going up, ICU rates, going up, about 1/2 of the people in ICUs die. But if you like your problematic statistics, stick with them.

  51. Hospitals should have the right to track the cell phone location data of anyone seeking ER care. If it is observed that they hung out in bars before they got sick, send them home with an oxygen tank and tell them that the virus is a hoax spread by fake news to give them a positive attitude.

  52. Our brains evolved to fight immediate threats in our environment with flight or fight decisions. I think you are looking at the limit on the amount of time that we can experience an emergency and respond to it. 3 months. The people most at risk, and more mature, can probably still isolate and socially distance. But the rest of us are not going to do anything we don’t want to, and our government is not a dictatorship that is willing to enforce compliance. I feel sorry for the people working at hospitals that will suffer due to our behavior.

  53. “The correct phrase is “couldn’t care less,” but dictionaries and language experts say the Americanism “could care less” is gaining ground and even acceptable in some situations.” Jan 16, 2020 (Grammar Girl)

  54. I don’t know… people are quick to point to protests as the timing for increase in exposure. BUT, Memeorial Day weekend – and the wholesale opening of Santa Barbara to paying tourists – happened around the same time. It almost feels like some people are trying to say we shouldn’t stand up and be counted, but we should bow down to money. Just my opinion. And, agreed – SB City and County should probably close the beaches this weekend. Because people won’t exercise their own common sense.

  55. Fernaldpoint-No, and that’s the silver lining, hardly anyone will have to close since most of the breweries, pubs and bars already serve food or started serving food so they could open along with restaurants.

  56. Choice of words matters. I take exception to the wording of this announcement. Dr. Ansorg should have said, “must close”, not “should close”. Should means “ought to” and leaves the matter open. In our current circumstances, the emphatic verb “must” is essential, otherwise there is room for argument and resistance.

  57. SBLOC, dude…they closed the pubs, breweries and bars. they are closed until further notice. restaurants may be next, as i seem to notice about a 2 ft distance at them and no masks. it’s like they just forget things when dining out.

  58. ZERO – I think SBCOLOC meant the bars won’t actually have to close because they all “adapted” to the loophole allowing them to be open if they sell food. So, we have an order to help us slow our virus problem, since these grown adults can’t do it themselves, but it won’t do anything because businesses are using loopholes to stay open. It’s a waste of time and prolonging of our problem. They need to shut down COMPLETELY all bars and restaurants again. These have been the hotpoints for the virus. Indoor, no air circulation, close proximity = bad news. We’re going to be starting all over again, mark my words.

  59. ZERO – they NEED to close the beaches to non-locals or at least make them walking/swimming only. No reason allow our beaches to be invaded and overrun by out of towners and then cancel our fireworks. If we’re keeping the beaches open, we might as well go all out and say eff the virus. Please, still go and do your thing, as all us locals should be able to do, but when you open up to LA and OC, those miles of open beaches get very cramped very soon. KEEP OUT LA!

  60. I’ll have one bourbon, one scotch and one beer. All that and a bag of chips. There: food. Winning!
    Being sarcastic, of course. but that’s about the extent of this food loophole. Either do something effective or …nothing, just do something effective and make it effective.

  61. KANE KENA – exactly. I understand the bar owners’ need to make a living, however, right now, we need to stop this thing from spreading like wildfire again. Bars and restaurants are some of the worst places to be right now, regardless of whether you can buy a slim jim with your booze. Allowing them to stay open because they sell food has NOTHING to do with safety, but rather as a means to avoid “punishing” bars as non-essential. If you “serve” food, you are automatically “essential.” THAT is the problem. Now, because you can “order food” with your shots, you can still pack a bar full of irresponsible, rowdy drunk people. Why even bother with these restrictions??

  62. Bars WON’T close. They now sell food and are exempt. The order to close bars is a act. Newsom wants to look like he has done something. He has. We are now sitting ducks in a city that won’t enforce executive orders or proclamations. Let the virus rage…

  63. Yesterday, I was “discussing” with another poster his desire to hold BLM liable for negligence due to the recent protests. I wonder what he and all the others supporting the idea think about SB allowing the beaches to remain open, while LA and OC are closed, and actively advertising that SB is open to tourists?

Assault of MTD Bus Driver on Milpas Street

Additional COVID-19 Death and 96 New Cases in Santa Barbara County