Santa Maria city leaders share what they’re doing in light of recent COVID cases

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The focus on the COVID-19 pandemic in Santa Barbara County continues to be Santa Maria.

On Tuesday, Public Health announced additional deaths in the city.

Out of the 46 new cases reported countywide, 33 were in Santa Maria.

"About 20 percent of those were field workers and about 11 percent of them were individuals who are unemployed and had some sort of disability," said Councilwoman Gloria Soto with the City of Santa Maria.

Soto believes Covid-19 is impacting people of color more so than any other group.

"I want to shine light on the fact that it tends to be on communities that have low or little to no access to healthcare and individuals working on low wage jobs," said Soto.

The City of Santa Maria has been monitoring the Coronavirus pandemic closely for the past three months.

"We have gone out and purchased 15 signs posted throughout the community in English and in Spanish to wear your mask. We have videos running every single day on our city government TV channel Comcast 23 and on our social media," said Mark van de Kamp with the City of Santa Maria.

As the largest city in the county, Santa Maria leaders believe more attention and resources from the county are needed as the pandemic continues.

"That’s why we are working very closely and in partnership with authorities to get as many resources here as we can," said van de Kamp.

If the number of cases continues to rise, city leaders say there’s a chance it could impact the reopening of the community.