There’s some good news in Santa Barbara County’s efforts to cope with the crisis. Santa Barbara County has been facing two issues: The outbreak of coronavirus in the county’s communities, and a massive outbreak at the federal prison complex in Lompoc.
More than two thirds of the cases reported in the county have been linked to the prison complex. Over the weekend, the county made big progress on two fronts. After what the county called a lack of cooperation by federal officials, they are now cooperating on dealing with the prison outbreak.
And, the state agreed not to count the prison numbers as part of the county’s totals. That change in accounting sets the stage for the county to move to the next phase of reopening under state guidelines.
The number of diagnosed cases on the Central and South Coasts has topped the 2500 mark, at 2567. Santa Barbara County is at 1496 diagnosed cases, but the total includes more than 940 inmates and 15 staff members at the federal prison. Ventura County has 825, and San Luis Obispo County 246.
