Santa Cruz County reports rise in COVID-19 cases

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif. (KION) Santa Cruz County health officials addressed the more than 100 new COVID-19 cases reported in the county Thursday.

Health officials said the high number of new cases is partly due to a backlog in cases, but despite that, it is still the highest active count so far. For that reason, County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel said she believes the county will be added to the state monitoring list sooner than expected.

The monitoring list, which includes Monterey and San Benito Counties, is for counties that pass state thresholds and need to make adjustments to reduce the number of cases or hospitalizations. Newel said earlier in the week that she believed Santa Cruz County could be on the list in the next two weeks, but she now believes it could be sooner than that.

One of the issues Newel addressed during a press conference is a testing backlog the county is experiencing. Right now, she said patients have to wait seven to nine days for results, which she says could make contact tracing obsolete. She said the county is hoping to work more with UC Santa Cruz to reduce the backlog.

When asked about what may have caused the increase in cases, Newel said it could potentially be to protests in the area or the memorial ceremony for Sgt. Damon Gutzwiller, but are still investigating and cannot say for certain that they are linked.