Santa Barbara County Public Health officials reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the county's total to 33,796 confirmed cases as of April 15.
Health officials also reported the death of another person due to COVID-19. The person lived in the South County unincorporated area, was over the age of 70 and had underlying health issues, officials said.
Health officials say 15 people are hospitalized and 33,207 people have recovered.
The Public Health Department reports that 61 of the county's 78 staffed ICU beds are currently occupied. Two of them are taken by COVID-19 patients.
Santa Barbara County has had 444 deaths attributed to the virus.
Santa Barbara County says it has met the criteria for one week to move into the state’s orange COVID-19 tier, which would ease restrictions even more.
The county says if metrics are met for another week, the move to the orange tier could happen as early as Wednesday, April 21.
Breakdown of cases by location:
- Santa Maria - 11,382
- Santa Barbara - 6,327
- Lompoc - 3,615
- Orcutt - 1,800
- Goleta - 1,766
- Carpinteria and South County unincorporated areas (Montecito, Summerland) - 1,353
- Isla Vista - 1,286
- Guadalupe and North County unincorporated areas (Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama) - 1,283
- Unincorporated Goleta Valley and Gaviota - 1,192
- Lompoc federal prison - 1,089
- Santa Ynez Valley (Solvang, Buellton, Santa Ynez, Los Alamos, Los Olivos, Ballard) – 1,004
TESTING
Multiple free community coronavirus testing sites are open in Santa Maria, Lompoc, Buellton, Santa Barbara, and Goleta.
Appointments are required at those locations. Click here for information on how to make an appointment.
Walk-in only testing is available at the following locations:
- La Cumbre Junior High School, 2255 Modoc Rd., Santa Barbara - Mondays, 3-6 p.m.
- Franklin Elementary School, 1111 E. Mason St., Santa Barbara - Wednesdays, 3-6 p.m.
- Isla Vista Theater, 960 Embarcadero del Norte, Isla Vista - Fridays and Saturdays, 12-5 p.m.
VACCINATIONS
All Santa Barbara County residents 16 years of age and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine at the county-run vaccination clinics. For details on how to make an appointment, click here.
For more information on the county's COVID-19 response, visit publichealthsbc.org.