No confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lompoc as hospital awaits ability to test quickly

LOMPOC, Calif. - There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Lompoc according to officials with the Lompoc Valley Medical Center.

The hospital has collected 46 specimens and has sent them to approved laboratories for testing. LVMC says 28 of those results have been received and are all negative. They are awaiting the results of 18 other tests.

Lompoc Valley Medical Center says they have a piece of equipment that can get results of a COVID-19 test in about 45 minutes versus the typical turnaround time of one to six days.

However, the vendor of the equipment has not yet made the software and supplies available to run those tests.

The hospital hopes to have that capabiltiy soon and hospital administrators say they are doing everything they can "to be up and running as soon as possible."

On Wednesday, Santa Barbara County confirmed that there are 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the county, including 10 in Santa Barbara and 11 in the Santa Maria/Orcutt area.