The COVID-19 related death toll on the Central and South Coasts rose by 12 people Thursday. Ventura County had eight additional deaths, Santa Barbara County three, and San Luis Obispo County one.
The number of deaths in our region since the start of the pandemic now stands at 1594 people.
204 additional COVID-19 cases have been reported in the region. 106 were in Ventura County, 47 in Santa Barbara County, and 51 in San Luis Obispo County.
The total numbers have been declining, with both Ventura and Santa Barbara counties close to moving to a state monitoring tier which would allow more reopenings. It could happen sooner if the state follows through with plans to change the reopening metrics because the number of high risk people vaccinated are increasing.