COVID rules changing for some Santa Barbara County employees

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - The COVID-19 policy for some Santa Barbara County employees is changing, and a testing requirement is going away.

The Board of Supervisors had been requiring weekly testing for employees who did not have proof of vaccinations.

That began last summer.

The latest decision to rescind that rule came with one supervisor resisting the move.

"I respectfully disagree with the idea that we should rescind our COVID vaccination or testing policy.  County workers are emergency workers," said Supervisor Das Williams. He said the pandemic is not entirely over and there are still concerns going forward, mainly with variants that put the public at risk.

Williams was the only supervisor to vote against the change.