Edhat StaffBy edhat staff
The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reports nine additional deaths and 418 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
Eight of the nine individuals were over 70 years of age, one was between 50-69 years of age. Six had underlying health issues and five were associated with an outbreak at a congregate facility.
There have now been 223 confirmed COVID-19 related deaths in Santa Barbara County since the virus arrived last March.
There are currently 3,027 active cases within the county including 197 hospitalizations with 53 in the intensive care unit (ICU).
More data can be found at https://publichealthsbc.org/status-reports/ and the Community Dashboard.
Why are there still outbreaks occurring at congregate living facilities? They know these individuals are the most vulnerable, and they’ve known this for nearly a whole year. This is outrageous.
A big part of the delay in getting vaccinations in congregate care facilities is that it was put in the hands of private enterprise, rather than health departments. In California, CVS Health and Walgreens are partnering with the federal government to administer the shots.
West Virginia is the first state to finish the first round of vaccinations in all of its 214 nursing homes. Why? West Virginia has ignored the federal bureaucracy and is instead using private enterprise in the form of local pharmacies.
(https://qz.com/1957653/why-west-virginia-leads-the-us-in-vaccinating-nursing-homes/)
(https://wvmetronews.com/2020/12/29/local-pharmacies-playing-key-role-on-vaccine-distribution/)