Santa Barbara County is reporting the death of another person who tested positive for COVID-19.
Health officials say the individual was over the age of 70, had underlying health conditions, and lived in Santa Maria.
Santa Barbara County also reported 58 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, bringing the county's total to 6,704 confirmed cases as of August 7.
Of the 198 active cases in the county, 84 people are hospitalized, including 29 patients who are in the ICU.
Health officials say 6,437 people have recovered, including 1,016 inmates at the federal prison in Lompoc.
Three free coronavirus testing sites are open to the community in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, and Buellton.
Appointments are required at all locations. Click here or call 888-634-1123 to make an appointment.
Breakdown of cases by location:
- Santa Maria - 3,012
- Lompoc federal prison - 1,019
- Santa Barbara - 876
- Lompoc - 499
- Guadalupe and North County unincorporated areas (Sisquoc, Casmalia, Garey, Cuyama, New Cuyama) - 269
- Orcutt - 214
- Carpinteria and South County unincorporated areas (Montecito, Summerland) - 156
- Goleta - 155
- Unincorporated Goleta Valley and Gaviota - 116
- Santa Ynez Valley (Solvang, Buellton, Santa Ynez, Los Alamos, Los Olivos, Ballard) - 75
- Isla Vista - 74
The locations of an additional 239 cases are listed as "pending."
Officials with the county and city of Santa Barbara are encouraging people to avoid gatherings this weekend as the Old Spanish Days Fiesta comes to a close.
Most of the events related to Fiesta were either modified to allow for social distancing or canceled, including the annual Sunday Cruiser Ride. Still, officials are worried cyclists who planned to participate will do so anyway.
"Events, such as this, begin and end with gatherings of people in close contact and can result in the transmission of COVID-19 by persons who are not symptomatic, but are in fact infectious," said Dr. Henning Ansorg, County Health Officer. "These gatherings pose a very high risk of accelerated and widespread coronavirus infections and therefore they are prohibited per Health Officer Order."
For more information on the county's COVID-19 response, visit publichealthsbc.org.