Edhat StaffBy edhat staff
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (PHD) is reporting 21 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total to 1,517. Of the total, 971 are within the Lompoc prison and 546 are in the community.
Of the 21 new cases, 13 are in the community, with the majority in Santa Maria, and 8 are at the federal prison in Lompoc. Earlier today PHD addressed the growing concern with a high percentage of community cases located in the north county city. They are currently working on alternative solutions to further educate residents to slow down the spread.
The community currently has 432 recovered cases, 28 quarantined at home, and 28 hospitalizations with 11 in the intensive care unit (ICU).
The county is reporting a total of 13,269 tests that have been conducted. Click here for more information on each case.
Cottage Numbers
Cottage Health has further broken down their numbers. All COVID-19 positive patients are included in PHD’s total.
Below is a status update as of May 19, 2020.
· Cottage Health is caring for a total of 238 patients across all campuses.
· 177 are acute care patients; 196 acute care beds remain available.
· In surge planning, capacity is identified for adding 270 acute care beds.
· Of the 177 acute care patients, 11 patients are on ventilators. (66 ventilators remain available (adult, pediatric and neonatal ventilators).
· Of the 177 acute care patients, 8 are in isolation with COVID-19 symptoms; 6 are confirmed COVID-19 positive.
· Of 8 patients in isolation, 4 patients are in critical care.
From May 11-17:
- 1,528 COVID-19 laboratory tests were ordered and collected by Cottage Health.
- Results: 21 positive, 1,457 negative, 50 pending.
- Results take up to 4 days.
SLO and Ventura Counties
The County of Ventura has filed the variance to apply for reopening faster under the Governor’s orders. Regular Stage 2 has included curbside retail, manufacturing and supply chain businesses. The Governor has allowed counties that apply and qualify for a variance to move further along into Stage 2 with seated dining and the reopening of schools with modifications. Ventura Public Health Officer, Dr. Robert Levin, is also supportive of in store retail as soon as the state approves.
“The preparations to protect public health combined with the confidence we have in our business owners and residents puts us in a great position to move forward on an accelerated path,” said Mike Powers, County CEO. “COVID-19 has had devasting impacts on both community health and our economy. We want businesses to be able to reopen and we believe they can and will do so safely.”
As of Tuesday, Ventura is reporting 837 total cases. Of those 542 have recovered, 267 are under quarantines, 27 are hospitalized with 13 in the ICU, and there have been 28 deaths.
In San Luis Obispo County, there are 247 total cases. Of those, 213 have recovered, 30 are under quarantine, 3 are hospitalized with 2 in the ICU, and there has been 1 death, as of Tuesday.
But counting on “herd immunity” to fix everything may not work, especially not in the short term. It has not been actually proven yet that antibodies confer immunity to this new virus, and if they do, for how long. Months? A year? Vaccines can help herd immunity, but that’s not happening any time soon.
Right now, the only verified path to immunity is death.
Are people still working under the radar up there? I know this happens in some cities when people need to work. I suspect this is going on, or they are not taking it seriously. It’s odd.
Public Health said they have looked at ALL the demographics and cannot find a specific reason. It could just be that people in this town aren’t taking it seriously. If someone goes to a store and most people aren’t wearing a mask, they would be less likely to also wear a mask. Alternatively, if someone goes to a store in SB and 99% of people are wearing masks, they will be more inclined to do so.
Santa Maria, City of Lompoc, are doing us a favor in my opinion. 331 reported cases with a few new ones dribbling in every day. Actual infected may be 10x reported cases. They are pushing us in the direction of herd immunity without overwhelming the hospitals.
The numbers don’t add up.
“The community currently has 432 recovered cases, 28 quarantined at home, and 28 hospitalizations with 11 in the intensive care unit (ICU).” 432+28+28=488
But they report 546 in the the community. Even if you add the 11 ICU’s you only get 499.
Also, it appears that the Cottage numbers of 177 ICU patients include non-covid patients,which is confusing.
There is a lot of shared housing in Santa Maria. If one goes out and does not do so in a safe manner it risks everyone else in the household.