Santa Barbara County schools can bring students back to campus, health official says

Santa Barbara County has been in the designated red tier for two consecutive weeks as of Wednesday, allowing all K-12 schools in the county to reopen for in-person instruction.

Santa Barbara County Public Health officer Dr. Henning Ansorg issued a health officer order allowing schools to reopen on Tuesday night.

“Santa Barbara County has worked hard to adhere to safety guidance, which has reduced the transmission of COVID-19 and allowed the county to remain in the red tier,” Ansorg said. “As we have consistently been in the red tier for two weeks, schools now have the option to reopen and allow youth to begin to return to in-person learning.”

San Luis Obispo County public schools got the go-ahead to bring students back to campus on Oct. 6.

Santa Barbara County’s health order also maintains the prohibition of gatherings of all sizes in the county, which is more restrictive than state guidance at this time.

County public health officials reported one new COVID-19-related death and 19 additional cases on Wednesday.

The person who died, between the age of 50 to 69, resided in Santa Maria, and had underlying health conditions. This additional death brings the county’s count from COVID-19 to 117.

The daily testing positivity rate is 2.9%, significantly higher than Tuesday’s rate of 1.8%. The county has added 165 cases in the past seven days, making for an average of 23.6 new cases per day.

Of the 19 new cases, seven came from Isla Vista and four came from Santa Maria. Goleta and Lompoc each reported two new cases, and Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley each had one.

There were no new cases in the Montecito-Summerland-Carpinteria area, the unincorporated area of the Goleta Valley and Gaviota, the Lompoc Federal Prison, Orcutt, or the unincorporated areas of North County.

Two cases were pending location.

There are currently 21 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, with seven requiring intensive care.