Santa Barbara extends ban on cruise ship visits due to COVID. When will hiatus end?
The Santa Barbara Waterfront Department announced Monday that cruise ship visits to the city will remain suspended until next year due to the surge of COVID-19 cases.
The hiatus is expected to remain in effect until March 2022.
The last cruise ship to anchor off the Santa Barbara Harbor was the Amadea on March 4, 2020, which means there will be a two-year gap between visits when the next scheduled cruise ship arrives on March 10, 2022.
The Grand Princess was scheduled to arrive in Santa Barbara on March 24, 2020, but the visit was canceled due to the cruise ship having multiple confirmed cases of COVID-19 aboard.
The vessel, which was also linked to the first COVID-19 death in California, was instead diverted to Oakland on March 9, 2020.
Following the diversion of the Grand Princess, Santa Barbara officials began asking other cruise lines to also cancel upcoming visits to Santa Barbara.
“Our cruise ship program brings millions of dollars to the local economy as well as introduces Santa Barbara to tens of thousands of people from around the world,” waterfront director Mike Wiltshire said in a news release Monday. “That being said, the health and safety of our community, as well as the health and safety of cruise ship passengers visiting our area are our top priority, so we have decided to pause the program.
“We remain optimistic that once we’re back to pre-pandemic status, Santa Barbara will return as a premier destination for the cruise line industry.”
The announcement of the cruise ship ban came as Santa Barbara County Public Health Department reported 329 new cases of COVID-19 since Friday, and one new death on Monday.
The county reported the death of a Santa Maria resident between the ages of 50 and 69 years old who had underlying medical conditions.
The death brings the county’s total fatalities from the virus to 476.
Of the new cases, 119 were reported on Saturday, 111 on Sunday and 99 on Monday.
As of Monday, 72 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized throughout the county, with 22 of those being treated in intensive-care units.
Of the new cases added since Friday, the Santa Maria Valley reported 182 cases, while Santa Barbara accounted for 46 cases.
The Lompoc Valley also reported 46 cases, the Goleta Valley had 20 cases, and the Santa Ynez Valley added 16 cases. Isla Vista and the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area each reported two new cases.
Fifteen cases were pending geographic locations.
According to the county Public Health Department’s Community Data Dashboard, 64.9% of eligible Santa Barbara County individuals, those who are 12 years of age and older, have been fully vaccinated.