Santa Barbara County has a second coronavirus case, and it’s linked to one in SLO County

Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso said a second case of COVID-19 in a North County resident was confirmed late Monday night.

Unlike the first case in Santa Maria, which is believed to be a community transmission (person-to-person spread locally), this case appears to be a close contact case with a known case in San Luis Obispo, she told the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

After a Monday evening briefing on local testing availability and guidance on what people should do if they feel sick, public health officials found out that a second test came back positive, Do-Reynoso said.

It was around 10:30 p.m., and staff started their contact investigation “at that late hour,” she said.

They determined the second confirmed case was a North County resident in their 50s who appears to have had close contact with a positive case in San Luis Obispo. The individual has no underlying health conditions and is recovering in isolation at home, same as the first case, until cleared by the Public Health Officer.

“This person has no history of travel within or outside the United States, but did have contact with someone confirmed to have COVID-19. This second case did not have contact with Santa Barbara County’s first confirmed case,” Public Health spokeswoman Jackie Ruiz said in a statement.

“The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Barbara County is continuing to mandate social distancing measures to slow the spread of the virus. We are asking our residents to avoid unnecessary outings and practice diligent distancing of 6 feet or more between persons when in the community,” Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said in a statement.

Community Health Director Paige Batson reiterated that county healthcare providers collaborated to come up with criteria to prioritize testing.

She said the county has sufficient test kits right now, and more public health and commercial labs are “coming on board.”

As of Monday afternoon, the county had tested 128 people total for coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, with one positive result, 31 negative results, and 96 pending (one of the pending later came back positive for this second confirmed case).

Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at gmagnoli@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 2:35 PM.