Edhat Staff
Photo by iMattSmart on Unsplash
By edhat staff
Santa Barbara County Public Health Department (PHD) reports an additional 11 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county today. The total number of confirmed cases is 440.
Of the 11 new cases, none are attributed to the outbreak at the Lompoc prison. The ages range from 20’s to 70 years old.
One hundred and eighty-six people are recovering at home, 41 are recovering in a hospital, 12 of whom are in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 194 have fully recovered, and 14 are pending an update. Five deaths have been reported. More information on each case can be found at publichealthsbc.org.
PHD Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg reported the COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU rates have remained at a steady level for two weeks. He attributed this to the community’s efforts in staying at home and physical distancing. This is a step in the right direction to gradually reopen communities, however, the right timing is critical to prevent another surge, he said. Opening too soon could cause a second wave of COVID-19 that would likely be worse and more devestating than the first, according to Dr. Ansorg.
“In the beginning [of COVID-19 pandemic] we were so afriad the hospital would collapse locally… now we’re comfortable, with the excellent efforts in the community, we’ve really avoided this nightmarish situation. It would really be a shame if, in the matter of a week or two, that would all be nullified by poor behavior,” he said while urging people to continue physical distancing.
PHD Lab Director Dr. Stewart Comer announced the county has made arrangements with Vitalant, a blood provider, to start the recruitment for “convalescent plasma,” or blood plasma donated by people who have recovered from COVID-19.
Along with the increased development of rapid tier one testing at all local hospitals, PHD is working to acquire antibody tests and should begin with Quest Diagnostics this coming Monday.
Letter to the Governor
Supervisor Gregg Hart confirmed the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to send a letter to Governor Newsom requesting assistance to complete his six point framework to reopen the economy.
Santa Barbara County does not meet the 500,000 population threshold to receive federal funding and Hart argues the county needs finanical assistance with the current revenue loss and COVID-19 related expenses nearing $40 million and growing.
In a press conference on Wednesday, Newsom announced due to the stabilization of hospitals, we can take the first step in loosening restrictions and begin scheduling surgeries. Comestic surgeries are still prohibited but essential non-emergency surgeries can resume.
Hart echoed Newsom’s words by quoting the Governor’s statement today when discussing the restrictions. “We have tried to make it crystal clear that there is no light switch,” Newsom said. “There is no date.”
Since the state does not have the proper testing capacity, it’s still too early to lift the stay-at-home order, said Newsom. Restrictions are expected to loosen gradually and people, as well as businesses, will need to continue taking steps to avoid spreading the virus, he said.
Currently California’s testing capacity is approximately 16,000 per day. A large improvement from the 2,000 tests per day a month ago, but nowhere near the 60,000 to 80,000 per day testing needed to ease the restrictions.
Newsom has been vocal about the limited supplies that are needed for testing and stated President Trump promised to send collection swabs each week.
Reopening Local Schools
The Santa Barbara County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Susan Salcido, reported on four phases the county is working through to adjust to the COVID-19 crisis.
The first phase took place at the onset of the pandemic, where all public campuses were closed and the shift to online learning began. Districts began providing grab-and-go meals for students, passing out approximately 18,000 meals daily to students in the county.
The second phase is a deeper focus on distance learning, to modify and implement plans while providing devices and support online connectivity for students. Meals continue for students as well as childcare for essential workers. This is where we are now, said Dr. Salcido.
The third phase looks to the Governor and State Superintendents’s orders to reopen campuses as well as consulting with PHD to determine factors that must be present before opening.
The fourth and final phase looks towards the future and possibly redesigning school systems post-COVID-19.
“I think all of us, when we look at this situation through a lens of hope and optimism, want to know that our systems, our thinking, ourselves, will be changed in the best of ways when we’re on the other side of this,” said Dr. Salcido. “Our school systems are similar in that we will want to reflect on what we’ve learned and to consider how we may apply that learning to ensure every child has every opportunity in our schools and in their futures.”
Cottage Health Numbers
Below is a status update as of April 22, 2020.
· Cottage Health is caring for a total of 196 patients across all campuses.
· 147 are acute care patients; 226 acute care beds remain available.
· In surge planning, capacity is identified for adding 270 acute care beds.
· Of the 147 patients, 12 patients are on ventilators; 56 ventilators remain available (adult, pediatric and neonatal ventilators)
· Of the 147 patients, 17 are in isolation with COVID-19 symptoms; 9 are confirmed COVID-19 positive.
· Of 17 patients in isolation, 7 patients are in critical care.
· Cottage has collected 2,438 cumulative test samples: 182 resulted in positive, 2,149 resulted in negative, and 107 are pending. In most of these tests, patients did not require hospital admission.
Additional updates:
PDL Opens COVID-19 Testing Site for Scheduled Appointments
To increase COVID-19 testing access for symptomatic individuals in the community, Pacific Diagnostic Laboratories (PDL) has established a designated location for COVID-19 testing of patients with provider referral. The site for test specimen collection is in the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital parking lot opened
April 21. Below are details for accessing this testing:
· Testing will be done by appointment only. Patients must receive a referral from their health care provider (physician or nurse practitioner).
· No walk-in patients will be accepted. Patients must have an order for the test before arriving at the site.
· The site is in a PDL tent in the Goleta Valley Cottage Hospital parking lot (351 S. Patterson Ave). Patients with appointments for COVID-19 testing should arrive at this outdoor site only. No other PDL locations are currently offering testing.
· Patients must wear a face mask to the site. In accordance with public health requirements, the patient and patient’s household members are required to isolate until a negative test result is received.
· Expected turnaround time for results is 24-72 hours. Patients who test positive will be notified by their primary care physician.
More COVID-19 resources and updates are available at cottagehealth.org/covid19
So when will restrictions on small groups of 2-4 be eased?
Just wondering. Don’t think it’s a good idea for a few weeks.
It’s going to be interesting to see what happens in those southern states (Georgia, TN, and a few others) and Ohio when they ‘open up’ in these coming weeks. Sadly enough they’re doing the rest of the states a favor by guinea pigging it. I find myself wondering how many people in SB County actually have the virus in their bodies. I don’t care to speculate.
It will also be interesting to see if the infection rate spikes in those areas where people protested the shutdown in close groups.
Fewer people have a mask slung around their necks or are wearing one when in close proximity to others. With the understanding that it’s hard to expect people to remain vigilant for weeks or months, it seems like folks are slacking off already. This is the lull between sets. “Outside!”
Are there restrictions on groups of 2-4? That is most families I know. I’ve heard nothing about that.
I’m talking about people outside of the people I live with
With new data and mathematical analysis of this data, it is becoming increasingly confirmed that the virus is extremely widespread, has adversely or seriously affected only an extremely low percentage of the population, and was here long before the first confirmed deaths were attributed to it; I have stated this before based both through both my own experience and others I have spoken with, including relatives. To deny that an extremely high number of the deaths attributed to it occurred and continues among the elderly, individuals with underlying health conditions, and, has been reported nationally, to obese people such as Patricia Dowd of Santa Clara, who is now the earliest confirmed deaths (February 6), but is claimed “not to have any underlying health conditions”, is to deny the science and facts now being published, including test results, that so many people here are constantly clamoring for. I will hazard to guess that within a few months, if not sooner, we will look back at this and it will be confirmed this has had about the same death rate as the common flu. If you have any of the conditions mentioned, stay home, have your food and necessities delivered, don’t patronize businesses that you feel uncomfortable in, obey the lockdown orders, and believe what the the MSM wants you to believe and “stay safe”, as one poster here is always stating. To date there has been NO correlation regarding states that have issued “stay at home lockdown orders” and states (seven) that have not. Social distancing will work for any communicable disease, so many of you would probably wish we could have a lockdown anytime a widespread virus or disease is detected. But, please, Newsom and local government, lift the lockdown. Businesses don’t have to reopen and if you don’t want to go to the ones that do open, there is nothing wrong with that. But let the rest of us get back to our livelihoods and those of our families and employees and allow us to get on with our lives.
Paper trail…
So now LA public health is confirming that the actual death rate is .1 to .2 percent…or roughly the same as the flu…
“Preliminary results from antibody tests in Los Angeles County indicate that the true number of COVID-19 infections is much higher than the number of confirmed cases there, which implies that the fatality rate is much lower than the official tallies suggest. “The mortality rate now has dropped a lot,” Barbara Ferrer, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, said at a press briefing today. In contrast with the current crude case fatality rate of about 4.5 percent, she said, the study suggests that 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent of people infected by the virus will die, which would make COVID-19 only somewhat more deadly than the seasonal flu”
What a waste of everyones time this has all been (not to mention waste of trillions and trillions of dollars)!!!
santa barbara county… 5 weeks into the lockdown… 5 deaths… 400,000+ population….
Good Morning America (GMA) this morning re Pets getting coronavirus, April 23: https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/video/pets-us-test-positive-coronavirus-big-cats-infected-70303622 –
GMA reports no known pet fatalities. CDC Recommendations:
Do not let pets interact with outsiders.
Keep pets Indoors.
Maintain social distancing while going on walks. Avoid dog parks or public places.
One interesting aspect of the pandemic: It’d revealing who are our strong, capable, intelligent and compassionate leaders – and who are incompetent, uninformed and unfeeling. We must listen to, be grateful for and appreciate the former – and disregard the latter.
you’re not going to get 100% compliance. period.
if you aren’t ok with a risk you see, then don’t go there.
obviously other people ARE ok with the risk.
They darn should be! I just don’t get it why this isn’t something required at all stores and restaurants (take out). How are we to reopen if there aren’t some real preventive measures in place to help mitigate a resurgence?
a requirement…..requires enforcement. enforcement requires a feeling of moral superiority. you can’t force that moral superiority. the different neighborhoods WILL react in different ways. Social Shame is not a policy you can just instate… people will either feel it, or not.
Voluntary compliance is useless in this situation you need to make it a law requiring that all retail businesses and restaurants only permit customers wearing a mask to enter.
XANTUS – regarding your comment “don’t go there” – had I known this business would not deny service to those not wearing masks I wouldn’t have gone. I did an online order for that very reason so that I could just go and pick it up/limit my time there. Unbeknownst to me, when I walked in there were ppl without masks being allowed there and this is a fairly small business. Unfortunately I had to wait a few minutes for them to retrieve my order so I had no choice to “not go there”. I won’t go there again though.
Masks should be required. If those employees pick up the virus through infected droplets from customers, they then can spread it to other customers even on bags and other surfaces you take home with you. Some who they spread it to might not fare well with this virus. Why are masks not REQUIRED, and businesses REQUIRED to deny service if someone is not wearing a mask?
If the city/county is not going to require businesses to deny service to patrons without masks the we citizens must force this through our own patronage. Employees wearing masks will not protect you. If a customer is infected and isn’t wearing a mask it puts you at risk. I would suggest calling businesses to confirm if they require masks and make it clear we will not patronize any who do not require masks to be worn by all – customers included.
uh.. this is why you Wash Your Hands, and Don’t Touch Your Face after you have interactions in public.
unless your mask is AIRTIGHT (which almost none in public are) it is not preventing you from exhaling or inhaling the virus, due to the way gas works under pressure.
the mask suggestion is actually there to remind you to not touch your face.
I’m protecting you and you’re protecting me when we all wear a mask like we should be doing when in close proximity to others in public places.
XANTUS you could not be more wrong. I specifically talked to my own doctor about masks. While you can still get the virus it does significantly reduce likelihood if both infected and non infected wear them – i.e. everyone. It is not a guarantee but it is also not just there to remind you not to touch your face especially as you do risk touching your face to remove them. They do go a long way to reducing likelihood of transmission through breath/droplets from an infected person especially if the non-infected person is also wearing a mask. So yeah, masks are essential if you want to lessen your chances of catching this highly contagious disease.