Santa Barbara County: Wear face masks in public to limit coronavirus spread

In a shift from earlier advice, Santa Barbara County Public Health officials are now recommending that people wear cloth-covered masks at grocery stores, pharmacies and similar public places to avoid spreading the coronavirus and COVID-19.

For Seana Thomas, it’s about time.

“I never understood why they were telling people not to wear masks,” Thomas told Noozhawk on Thursday afternoon while wearing a mask and standing in line at Gelson’s Market in Santa Barbara. “It made no sense.”

Thomas has been wearing masks in public for a couple of months, and although she’s glad to hear about the latest advice, she said she wishes it would have come sooner.

“The absence of a coordinated national response has been a tremendous disappointment,” Thomas said. “It has extended things for all of us, much longer than was necessary, and will continue to do so.”

Dr. Henning Ansorg, county public health officer, revealed the information about the masks at Thursday’s daily press briefing on COVID-19.

New data from China show that people can transmit the disease as much as 24 to 48 hours before having symptoms of their own, he said.

He also noted that masks are not the best form of prevention.

“The guidance does not require people to wear face coverings, and it’s not a substitute for the state’s guidance regarding social distancing and hand washing,” Ansorg said. “The state also does not recommend that people use hospital-grade N95 or surgical masks, which are needed for our health care workers and first responders.”

The cloth masks will not provide significant protection to the wearer, Ansorg said, but will help prevent people — including those who have not yet developed symptoms — from spreading the virus.

He also said that anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform anyone they had contact with in the prior 48 hours.

The number of coronavirus cases in Santa Barbara County jumped up 28 to 139 on Thursday. The ages range from the 20s to more than 70 years old.

Of the new cases, 11 are in Santa Maria, five are in Orcutt, three are in the unincorporated areas of the Santa Maria Valley, including the city of Guadalupe, two are in the Lompoc Valley, one is in the Santa Ynez Valley, one is in Goleta, and five are in the city of Santa Barbara and Mission Canyon.

Of the 139 cases, 23 are in the hospital, and 16 of those are in intensive care, Ansorg said. There are 81 people recovering from home, 24 have fully recovered and 10 are pending a condition update.

One person in the county had died of the coronavirus as of Thursday.

A member of the Santa Barbara Police Department has contracted the virus. The officer, identified as “Police Officer No. 1,” last worked on March 12.

The officer is quarantined and recovering out of the county, at their personal residence, according to department spokesman Anthony Wagner.

In addition to “Police Officer No. 1,” two other officers were tested and both were negative for the virus, Wagner said. No Santa Barbara firefighters have been tested.