County Public Health Reports Increase in Local COVID-19 Cases, Test Positivity Rate

The number of new daily COVID-19 cases reported has increased by 65.5% in the last week, according to the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department. 

Data on the county dashboard show the test positivity rate has increased from about 3% to 9.2% in the past month, which means nearly one in 10 people being PCR tested for COVID-19 have positive results.  

The overall number of new cases is undercounted since at-home test results are not reported by Public Health. The county reported 312 new cases in the past week and one COVID-19-related death. 

Public Health reports a total of 107,527 cases of COVID-19 in the county and 738 deaths since the county began recording in early 2020. 

COVID-19 community levels remain low in Santa Barbara County according to CDC definitions.  

As of Thursday, there were 31 COVID-19-positive patients in local hospitals including six people in intensive care units.

As of Monday, county healthcare providers reported having administered 1,731,558 COVID-19 tests.

As of Dec. 1, the California Department of Public Health reported that 933,037 doses of the vaccine have been administered in Santa Barbara County. The Department also states that 69.7% of people in the county are fully vaccinated, 58.9% of county residents have been vaccinated and gotten a booster shot, and 18.5% of people in the county have received the bivalent booster.

To find a COVID-19 vaccine provider near you, visit publichealthsbc.org/vaccine, or at myturn.ca.gov.

— Noozhawk staff writer Grace Kitayama can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

The county’s COVID-19 information dashboard includes data on number of PCR tests administered and the positivity rate.  (California Department of Public Health illustration)

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