4 more COVID-19 deaths reported in Santa Barbara County

SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. - Four more coronavirus-related deaths were reported in Santa Barbara County Wednesday. These deaths bring the county's COVID-19 death toll to 279.

Two of these people lived in Santa Barbara and the other two were from Santa Maria.

According to public health officials, three of these people were between the ages of 50 and 69 and the other was over 70 years of age.

Three had underlying health conditions, the public health department said. None of these deaths were associated with any outbreaks at shared living facilities.

A death is considered to be coronavirus-related when the health department receives a death certificate that lists COVID-19 as the cause of death or a significant contributing factor in the death. The process can sometimes take several weeks to verify.

In addition to these four new deaths, the county also reported 134 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday. 203 people are hospitalized, 58 of whom are in the ICU.

For a complete breakdown of coronavirus cases in Santa Barbara County, click here.