Santa Barbara County reports ninth coronavirus death
On Tuesday, the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported a ninth death — a Santa Barbara resident in their 40s with underlying health conditions.
Eighteen new cases of COVID-19 were also reported Tuesday in Santa Barbara County, the largest one-day total in more than two weeks. The county has a total of 544 coronavirus cases, compared to 204 in San Luis Obispo County.
But the number of active cases, which peaked at 227 on April 22, is down to 93, the lowest it has been since the April 1.
There were 37 COVID patients hospitalized in the county on Tuesday, with 11 in intensive care units.
The latter number is the lowest it has been since March 31.
As of Tuesday, there were 37 people recovering at home and 442 who have completely recovered, which represents about 81 percent of the county’s total cases.
Of the new confirmed cases, six people are Santa Maria residents, four are from Santa Barbara, four from Goleta, two from the unincorporated area of the South Coast (Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria), and one from Lompoc.
The location of one patient was pending.
The new patients include eight in the 30 to 49 age group, six in the 70-plus group, two in the 50 to 69 group, and one each in the 18 to 29 and 0 to 17 groups.
As has been their practice, public health officials refused to provide additional details about the latest COVID-19 fatality, including gender and the nature of the underlying health condition.
