Santa Cruz County sees increase in cases, but some hopeful signs
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION) Santa Cruz Public Health leadership held a press conference on Friday discussing the recent developments of COVID-19.
Local health leaders gave updates on holiday cases, positivity rates, drive-thru vaccinations, stay-at-home orders and the status of the more contagious U.K. variant, B117.
Dr. Gail Newel, Santa Cruz Public Health Officer, reveals that the latest data they have received on COVID-19 was surprising.
The data reveals an overall daily COVID-19 case rate of 59.0 per 100,000 residents and a positivity rate of 12.3%. Some of the safety net clinics that serve the medically underserved and uninsured have reported a consistent daily rate of 40%.
"We knew that the back-to-back holidays of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and all the many celebrations that take place during these months were going to take a toll on the community and perhaps have hit Santa Cruz county harder," said Dr. Newel.
Despite the recent surge that Santa Cruz county has experienced, there are glimmers of hope.
Hospitalizations have hit a plateau, which prompted Dr. Newel to lift her suspension of elective surgeries.
The Bay Area region is also not expected to reach 0% ICU capacity, a problem that is an unfortunate reality for much of Southern California.
Mimi Hall, Health Services Agency Director, states that Santa Cruz will be continuing to follow current stay-at-home orders.
They also discussed how Sutter Health, the first drive-thru vaccination clinic to open in Santa Cruz, has been leading local efforts for vaccinating residents.
The more infectious COVID-19 U.K. variant B117 is suspected to become the prominent strain by March leading to more cases and more death. COVID-19 guidelines may change due to the higher transmissibility of the strain.
