Edhat Staff
Sheriff Bill Brown and ASL interpreter Mala Poe
By edhat staff
Santa Barbara County Public Health announces 24 confirmed cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) as Sheriff Bill Brown states a decrease in overall crime during Tuesday’s press conference.
The Public Health Department (PHD) previously reported 18 cases on Sunday. The 6 new cases range between ages 22 and 59 with four located in south county and two in north county. Currently, the 24 cases include 4 patients who have fully recovered, 19 patients recovering at home, and 1 patient requiring hospitalization.
PHD Deputy Director Paige Batson stated as transmission becomes more widespread the disease containment will move toward mitigation and PHD will prioritize and focus on individuals who have had exposure in congregate settings such as skilled nursing facilities and shelters.
“Anticipate seeing a significant rise in cases for days or weeks to come. Our actions today will dictate how slowly or quickly this virus will travel in our community,” said Dr. Henning Ansorg. He continued to state its best to assume the virus is in your community and you’re at risk, so stay at home.
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown provided statistics on an overall decrease in jail bookings during the executive order for residents to shelter in place and commended the community’s great success in complying with orders.
This past weekend, law enforcement calls were down by 28% compared to one month ago, emergency medical services calls were down by 10%, and jail bookings were down by 67%, said Brown. Although he did state there was an uptick in domestic disturbances, but that was to be expected as some people “don’t get along.”
Brown also stated most businesses are complying with closure or new guidelines as the goal for deputies is to be “long on discretion, short on enforcement” in regards to executive orders. Although, he warned anyone engaging in price gouging, burglarizing closed businesses, or taking advantage of people during this time will be brought to justice. Frequent violators of the shelter in place order could potentially be charged with a misdemeanor and in certain cases jailed, he stated.
The County Jail was previously engaged in an early release program prior to the COVID-19 orders. The jail is currently housing 766 inmates, the lowest population since Brown’s 13 years as Sheriff. It’s required that inmates serve one-third of their sentence before their released and they must have a low likelihood of reoffending before they qualify for an early 30 day release. Approximately 3-4% of inmates of have been released early, said Brown.
The full press conference is available below:
Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown said most people have obeyed the health officers order, but there have been some instances of people violating the order. Brown said people may be arrested for violating the order Please heed the warning!
OMG did Beown really attribute Domestic Violence to people “not getting along”- ugh. This is the 21st century. Domestic ciolence assaults are exertion of power and violence.
Yeah that was dumb.
but “not getting along” is sometimes what sparks anger and arguments. its not unheard of. You get in an argument you are not asserting “power and violence”. but anyways.
Domestic violence calls will naturally escalate and not just because of adults, but kids are home from school and can’t go anywhere. Imagine being a teenager and having siblings and the constant togetherness… TORTURE! So yeah, the calls are made because people hear yelling, door slamming, things like “I’m going to kill you!!” and stuff that isn’t truly domestic violence but more like kids, not getting along.
Did anyone ask what is the rationale the location of the cases aren’t given? I totally disagree with this decision. Ventura County, LA both give specific location data. Does our PHD have a smarter idea why hiding that info is better for the public?
Privacy laws
Don’t get too excited PUG. There is no way they will arrest anyone for not following the order. They are releasing prisoners early and barely arresting anyone. They have a skeleton crew and are only responding to emergency calls or where life or property is In jeopardy. They have no intention of Bringing the people sitting on the patio of Jeannines in to lockup.
6:44 – Good question. HIPAA does not prevent releasing the names of the cities where they live, only the individuals’ personal, identifiable information (name, address, etc). Should be no problem releasing that info.
I’d be much more interested in where the person works, than where they reside.
It is a pandemic. Location info is a big part of control and prevention for the public. It is ridiculous to think hiding it does any good at this time. The public deserves to know which cities have how many cases. Period.
Trails, yes. Parks, no. Families can easily keep to themselves in parks and beaches. The reason I keep harping on this, is that this type of hysteria about people being outdoors at all can lead to over-reaching rules that end up with ALL outdoor places being banned. Increase patrols, ticket/arrest/jail those who are flagrantly violating those rules. But PLEASE, please leave public outdoor places open for those of us who simply need to get outside and explore with our kids. It’s SO EASY to do this safely.
Well, we know there’s at least one case in Goleta. This is from Nextdoor, KEYT and also Facebook (so there’s no privacy issues):
https://keyt.com/health/2020/03/24/goleta-resident-describes-experience-with-covid-19/
Are people disinfecting their reusable bags? Seems like they’d be hotbeds for harboring something like this.
All the people flocking to local hiking trails and parks needs to be stop. How is that social distancing when you have whole families on a narrow trail and hope one of them doesn’t cough or sneeze as you squeeze by them..
Only a matter of time.
The locals in Northern California don’t want you.
Bagging your own groceries is nothing new at both these cruddy stores.
Ventura, Kern, LA, and SLO counties are providing far better data on their cases, including WHERE the cases are. The World Health Organization recommended today that all countries stop looking just at aggregate totals, and instead look at their data down to the village and district level. Where you see clusters starting, get on top of it, shut it down, and test to find connections to others so you can isolate faster and shut down the curve.
Scuttlebutt: our PHD director is screwing this up royally, from insiders in the department…
Push your elected officials for better performance and accountability. Mayor Cathy – what are YOU doing? Bad News Bears on City Council? Monique? HBJ? County sups??? Demand better info and more proactiveness from County Public Health.
Finally, that Officer that said we’ll be fine…with 62 beds across the county. WTH?