Santa Barbara County adds 20 cases of coronavirus, bringing total to 88

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Santa Barbara County jumped to 88 on Monday, and the county’s top medical officer called the situation “scary.”

“The mathematics of this virus is vicious,” said Dr. Henning Ansorg, Santa Barbara County public health officer, during the daily afternoon news briefing.

Ansorg reported 20 additional confirmed cases since Sunday, all but one in the North County.

He said the ages of the patients range from teens to people over 70 years old.

Of the new cases, nine are in Santa Maria, one is in Orcutt, six are in the North County unincorporated areas, including Guadalupe, three are in the Lompoc Valley, including the communities of Mission Hills and Vandenberg Village, and one is in the city of Santa Barbara.

The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release Monday evening that stated a custody deputy is recovering at home after testing positive for COVID-19.

The custody deputy is assigned to the Main Jail and last worked on Thursday, March 26. The following day, a member of the custody deputy’s family tested positive for COVID-19, which prompted the remainder of the family to be tested.

In an unrelated incident, another sheriff’s deputy tested positive for COVID-19 and is recovering at home. The deputy last worked patrol on Wednesday, March 18.

After consulting with the Public Health Department, no additional staff nor any inmates have been isolated as a result of these new cases, according to the news release.

In addition three inmates and one staffer at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Institution tested positive for coronavirus, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, although it was not clear whether those were part of the county’s total.

So far there have been no fatalities in Santa Barbara County associated with the virus.

Of the 88 confirmed cases, 49 are recovering well at home; 19 have already fully recovered; 14 are in the hospital, and 10 are in intensive-care units.

Ansorg said the increase in numbers was not surprising.

“We expected a doubling of cases within three days, and that is almost exactly what we are seeing,” he said. “It is an indicator of just how infectious this thing is.”

Ansorg stressed that the greatest way to combat the virus is by practicing social distancing.

“I don’t want to scare anybody, but I want everyone to take responsibility for themselves and the community and stay home, “ he said.

Speaking at the press conference, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley said there has been a rise in domestic violence, spousal rape, child abuse, elder abuse and animal abuse along with the shelter-in-place restrictions.

“All those crimes are happening now and what makes now unique?” she said. “It’s because people are under a tremendous amount of stress, they are in their homes, they have alcohol and drugs within arm’s reach and they are frustrated and anxious and they don’t know when the end is going to be.

“They don’t have the end in sight of when they are going to go back to work, when their children will be able to go back to school, and all of that tension and all of that frustration can lead to violence.”

She urged people in situations where they are being abused to call 9-1-1.

Dudley urged perpetrators to leave their homes and get away from their families to avoid abuse.

She said law enforcement will respond to any abuse calls.