Indoor mask mandate aimed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 extended in Santa Barbara County
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Don’t throw your masks away just yet. The public health order to wear a mask indoors got extended.
The order was announced Thursday afternoon for at least another month.
The indoor mask mandate returned in August, after a couple of months of pause during the summer. Originally, if someone was vaccinated they didn’t need to wear a mask.
In a statement Santa Barbara County Public Health officer Dr. Henning Ansorg said, “Wearing a face covering while indoors is an important and effective strategy to reduce transmission in the community.”
The mandate is expected to last until Dec. 4, or until it is deemed safe to no longer wear them. Health officials stated they will consider rescinding the indoor mask mandate the county case rate reaches "6.0 cases per 100,000 people or lower for two consecutive weeks”.
On Aug. 13 Santa Barbara County’s fourth wave of infections peaked at 31.2 cases per 100,000. The majority of those cases were among the unvaccinated, 50.1 per 100,000 among the unvaccinated and 14.5 per 100,000 among the vaccinated.
As of Oct. 31, Santa Barbara County has 8.1 cases per 100,000. And the most recent vaccinated versus unvaccinated comparison was on October 28. The county had 9.5 cases per 100,000, unvaccinated had 18.3 cases per 100,000 to vaccinated had 3.3 cases per 100,000.
Dr. Lynn Fitzgibbons works at Cottage Health as an infectious disease specialist. She says cases aren't rising, but they also aren't dropping.
“Unfortunately our current case rates have plateaued. They have not continued to drop. And this may be an early signal of the winter surge that we anticipate may hit us. We don’t know when but potentially in the next month or two," Fitzgibbons said.
The goal of local health officials is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible and lessen the spread of the coronavirus heading into the holiday season. Health experts are concerned we could see a fifth wave of spread in what is being called "Delta Winter."
“We are heading in the right direction as our case rate continues to decrease and vaccinations increase,” said Ansorg. “The upcoming holiday season has the potential to cause a significant increase in cases and hospitalizations.”
Santa Barbara County Public Health director Van Do-Reynoso, added, “This is a Delta Winter, and so we want to make sure that all of our community members utilize the tools that we have at our disposal. And the number one tool is get the vaccine.”
Health officials reiterate that the vaccines are safe, effective and free of charge.
For the latest facts and figures on the COVID-19 pandemic in Santa Barbara County, click here. For information receiving a COVID-19 vaccine, click here.
