Edhat Staff
By edhat staff
Santa Barbara Public Health Officials stated they are worried about the increase of COVID-19 cases that could possibly move the county back to a more restrictive tier.
Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso stated the county’s case rate has been steadily increasing and she’s worried this could push the county into the “widespread” purple tier forcing more businesses to close down.
San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties were assigned a purple tier marking this week due to spikes in COVID-19 case rates. Although Santa Barbara County remains in the less restrictive red tier this week, Do-Reynoso states there’s a possibility the county could be assigned to the purple tier this coming Tuesday.
Eleven counties in California reverted to more restrictive tiers as COVID-19 spikes and outbreaks continue throughout the state, nation, and globe.
Do-Reynoso stated while Halloween gatherings probably played a role, the biggest cause of increased cases is due to general gatherings and relaxation of safety measures.
She said a good teachable moment of this is the high schoolers from St. Joseph’s who attended a party resulting in COVID-19 positive cases that closed the school for two weeks. What started as just two cases jumped to twenty cases within the span of one week, and these were just the symptomatic cases where it’s likely there are more asymptomatic cases linked to this gathering, said Do-Reynoso.
Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg urged community members not to travel at all for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday and not to gather with anyone outside your immediate household. The current health officer order includes a strict no gathering mandate of any size and will be extended until the end of the year in hopes to prevent an increase of cases.
Santa Barbara County should also expect to receive doses of the newly approved COVID-19 vaccine by the end of December or early January said Dr. Ansorg. While the logistics are still being hammered out he said it’s most likely that healthcare workers and first responders would be the first recipients followed by elderly people in congregate living settings.
West Coast Travel Advisory
On Friday, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Oregon and Washington’s governors collaborated on a joint travel advisory discouraging nonessential travel and recommending visitors and residents returning from other states to quarantine for 14 days.
This recommendation does not apply to individuals of essential travel, which includes travel for work, study, critical infrastructure support, economic services, health, immediate medical care, and safety.
“California just surpassed a sobering threshold — one million COVID-19 cases — with no signs of the virus slowing down,” Newsom said in a statement. “Increased cases are adding pressure on our hospital systems and threatening the lives of seniors, essential workers and vulnerable Californians. Travel increases the risk of spreading COVID-19, and we must all collectively increase our efforts at this time to keep the virus at bay and save lives.”
In addition to urging individuals arriving from other states or countries to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival, the states’ travel advisories recommend individuals limit their interactions to their immediate household.
How to Celebrate Thanksgiving
In addition to urging individuals arriving from other states or countries to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival, the states’ travel advisories recommend individuals limit their interactions to their immediate household.
The State of California has issued a travel advisory and guidance which indicates a recommendation that those traveling outside California practice self-quarantine upon their return. Travel and mixing households increase the chance of contracting and spreading the virus that causes COVID-19. The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department does not recommend travel during the pandemic.
“Mixing households for holiday gatherings can be a very dangerous activity this year during the significant surge in COVID-19 cases we are currently experiencing nationwide. Please avoid gathering with people that do not live in your household and be diligent about wearing face coverings when you leave your home. These actions will save lives,” said Henning Ansorg M.D., Santa Barbara County Health Officer.
The current Santa Barbara County Health Officer Order does not allow for gatherings of any size, very limited exceptions apply. Visit our local holiday guidance webpage for information about lower-risk holiday activities. As you plan for your holiday, please take the following tips into consideration:
- Based on your plans, evaluate your risk for contracting the virus.
- Consider a virtual holiday meal where you connect with loved ones by video chat.
- Honestly assess any risks posed by various methods of travel, such as traveling on an airplane, train, or bus.
- Be open and transparent with family and friends about concerns, illnesses, and expectations.
Santa Barbara County Numbers
As of Friday, Santa Barbara County has had 10,415 cases of COVID-19. Currently there are 216 active cases with 14 hospitalizations including two in the intensive care unit.
There have been 131 deaths.
There were 76 new cases added on Friday alone. Sixteen of those were from the City of Santa Maria, 10 from the City of Santa Barbara, and 9 from the unincorporated areas of Goleta Valley.
More data can be found at https://publichealthsbc.org
They’ve got to stick with the narrative.
Gotcha
Without the 7-day lag, we’d be in the Purple tier right now. This week’s 7-day average of unadjusted case rates, from Monday to Friday, are: 7.5, 7.6, 7.8, 7.8, 9.0. It will take another week before you start to see those up on the dashboard due to the 7-day lag. They can adjust these numbers to some extent during the 7-day lag depending on additional circumstances, such as if: 1) they made a mistake in assigning a positive; 2) testing rates deviate from the median testing rates of all counties in the state; and 3) the person testing positive does not have documentation showing residence within the county (yes, that’s a loophole) or resides in an ICE facility, prison or state hospital. In practice, these adjustments are small and have limits, and based on the state’s formula they won’t help with a case rate of 9.0.
Yes, it sucks, but those are the rules. Hopefully this will be the death knell for incumbent politicians in this state. People can only take so much.
How long are business owners going to put up with these openings and closings? They cannot keep playing with people’s livelihoods like this.
Won’t be long for the schools that have opened to close back down.
We just got rid of the politician that was the major cause of this debacle, or at least we will get rid of him in January.
1 month till vaccine? Kinda doubt it. Be nice, but based on prior hem & hawing on testing, the roll out of vaccines seems highly unlikely. Giving mixed messages…don’t see your kin and the cure will be here shortly…..
@ 7:34 PM: The politician that was the major cause of this? I can’t believe you’re actually quoting the Chinese Communist Party leaders who said that the US engineered the virus and released it in China in order to infect the world? I have very progressive friends that wouldn’t even go there.
Maybe with Pfizer, which has a bigger annual budget than NIH. I’m in no rush for a vaccine, as I’m doing fine with my regular routine and haven’t had a the flu since 2003. But if an experimental vaccine sound interesting, go for it, but please just avoid the vaccine from Sinovac Biotech.
You need to hone your critical thinking skills a bit, probably at the expense of your projection/fantasy skills.
Where was CCP quoted?!
In 7:43’s fertile imagination.
https://www.newsweek.com/dr-fauci-backed-controversial-wuhan-lab-millions-us-dollars-risky-coronavirus-research-1500741
Given this site’s threading of posts, I don’t get it.
Care to specify about the CCP quote? And who is your “fan”?! I’m not following this…
Just an observation: all of the people in California who are telling us when we can work, when we cannot work, when we can go to school, when we cannot go to school, when we can meet, when we cannot meet, have the luxury of working full time throughout the pandemic and also have full retirement and health benefits. All of these salaries and benefits are paid for by the (sometimes forced-out-of-work) taxpayers.
“Luxury of working”….they also have kids doing remote learning, elderly parents they worry about, experiencing disease & death in patients and colleagues firsthand, and taking on a bit more daily risk. A little more gratitude would be nice. We’re kind of all in this mess together.
I am fortunate that I still have a job and can work from home. You know what? I would prefer to work in my office. I have to deal with a-holes next door who have nothing better to do than make tons of noise, have parties/gatherings, disturbing me – yet these are the types of ppl who are contributing to the spread while not doing what they are supposed to do and forcing me to continue to have to work from home. Same goes with “all the people” you refer to. They have these same struggles and we are all asking to please, do what we need you to do so we can get out of this mess that YOU are causing!
It’s not the “China virus” – perhaps it was back last January; to many, its proper name now is the Trump virus.
Yes Bird – Trump Virus – That is more accurate.
They do not have to – but they are likely going to.
When the bodies of parents and grandparents are piling up in freezer trucks due to the hospitals overflowing – who is going to drive the kids to school?
Completely agree. If your work has been unaffected and can work from home you don’t get a say in how we reopen. Just stay home if you dont like it, that is a luxury many do not have.
You’re absolutely right Just A Voice. People forget we are a republic and have incorrect expectations of what the federal government can and cant do. Our issues here in CA lie squarely on the shoulders of Govenor and state legislature. The federal government has provided all the reouseuces our state needed but was squandered on Newsomes uncosntituational (fact check: true based on recent court decision) power trip and political agenda. Trump had been the exact opposite of a dictator during this crisis while Newsome proudly stepped into that role.
Some people certainly live in an alternate universe. Come with us now to the Twilight Zone, as we travel into a comic book universe; a zone where the stubborn facts of science melt away before unverifiable claims, stuporous fantasy, and outright magic. We’ll encounter the classic formula for conspiracy theories, which mixes non-scientific mumbo-jumbo with allegations that governments are hiding the truth, in that fertile mental terrain where fear and distrust of authority meet superstitious folklore.
Trumpet hasn’t atteneded a Covid task force meeting in 5 months. He’s been in dereliction of duty since he LOST to Biden. He can’t seem to man up. Some focus on Newsom as being a dictator – while things are still pretty much opening up here, other states are closing down again. We are in the middle of a humanitarian disaster. Why would you fault Newsom for buying masks from China when Trump was doing the same thing. In fact, Trump purchased One-point-eight million face masks and gowns, 10.3 million gloves and many other things – millions and millions of different items. I just read a tweet from a nurse saying that as she watches patients dying of Covid – they are still denying that Covid is real. Wake up. It’s like watching a slow train wreck.
Why do we blame trump in California when we have a selfish governor having mixed house hold parties at gucci dinner spots and spent 1 billion of our tax dollars on masks bought from china, of which we havent seen. He is the real dictator but since he is democratic no one will acknowledge that. He promised contact tracing 6 months ago. He also has created over 200 executive orders.
This narrative that we’re all in it together is such a load of bs. Go to montecito and check behind there gates. They are not with us they are still having parties and traveling all over the world. Its a class war. Wake up sheeple
Another “voice” heard from. What is it you want us to do, exactly?
Welcome back 420! How long are those same business owners going to tolerate people being sick and dying? They should be mad as hell and not take it anymore!
And…we are back in the purple.