Ventura, Santa Barbara, SLO counties hoping to be excluded from Southern California region
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties are now under the state mandated stay-at-home order after the intensive care unit capacity for the Southern California region reached 10.9%.
Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties plan to ask the state to separate them from the larger Southern California region under the stay-at-home order. The Southern California region includes Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.
County leaders want the state to create a smaller 'Central Coast' region.
“A smaller regional approach is important for our community members and struggling businesses. We believe it’s reasonable to have the Central Coast as one region instead of including our County withoverhalf the State’s population in the current Southern California Region,” said Ventura County Executive Officer Mike Powers.
The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors plan to vote on whether or not to send a letter to the state, requesting the creation of a new region, according to Supervisor Steve Lavagnino.
Lavagnino voiced his frustration with being "lumped into the Southern CA region" in a post on Facebook.
Our Board of Supervisors will be voting on sending a letter to the Governor tomorrow expressing our frustration with being lumped into the Southern CA region and requesting that we are allowed to exit the 3 week shutdown together with Ventura and SLO Counties similar to the map that the state’s Office of Emergency Services uses. Our ICU capacity still has 26% availability in this 3 county region. The other 2 counties are also communicating the same message to the CA Dept of Public Health and the Governor. #staysafe
Santa Barbara County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino
The Southern California region as a whole consists of 11 counties and more than 23 million people. A 'Central Coast' region which consist of three counties and about 1.5 million people.
Right now, Ventura County's ICU bed availability is at 9%. In Santa Barbara County, 50% of ICU beds are available. San Luis Obispo County capacity sits at around 44%. These numbers come from the state's coronavirus numbers.
The 'stay-at-home' order went into effect on Sunday.
