There were 75 confirmed COVID-19 patients being treated in local hospitals, including 21 people in ICU beds.
Of Monday’s new COVID-19 cases, Santa Maria tallied 136, Santa Barbara had 68, and Lompoc had 35. The rest were spread throughout the county.
Seven new COVID-19 cases were from the Lompoc federal correctional complex, where few cases have been reported since the large inmate outbreaks in the spring.
“We have reached case counts that exceed all previous records,” Do-Reynoso said. “It is imperative that each individual take action now and stay home.
“We are reaching a point where we can see on the horizon our health care system being overrun,” she continued. “We must take immediate action as our decisions are now seeing the price to be paid, and it is costing the lives and wellbeing of our community members.”
Ventura County ICU capacity now 1.4% as COVID-19 cases grow
VENTURA COUNTY, Calif. - Ventura County Public Health experts say almost all of of the county s ICU beds are full. On Monday, the county reported it had only 1.4% of its ICU beds available. 204 people are hospitalized, including 49 in the ICU.
An ICU doctor at Ventura County Medical Center said county hospitals are struggling. Dr. Mark Lepore from Ventura County Medical Center said about 12 percent of people that are diagnosed with COVID will end up hospitalized and about 1-2% will be admitted to the ICU or will die. We are all hitting capacity and we are all going to exceed capacity, Lepore said. What exceeding capacity looks like is showing up to the hospital and not having a room to go to or not having a staff member to take care of you. This is beyond the point that we can expect a guarantee that you re going to have a bed if you get COVID.
Ojai Valley News editor
Ventura County Public Health Officer Dr. Robert Levin said the COVID-19 vaccine is set to arrive in Ventura County “almost certainly” Dec. 14, 15 or 16.
“I am just pleased and relieved,” he said Dec. 12, of the imminent arrival of the vaccine. “Ninety-five percent efficacy is beyond belief,” he said. “It is too much to hope for. It’s wonderful, just wonderful.”
Levin said the first shipment of COVID-19 vaccine in Ventura County will be by Pfizer-BioNTech, which requires super-cold refrigeration of -70 to -80 degrees.
The Moderna vaccine will come to Ventura County later, he said.
Long hoped for, 6,800 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are expected to arrive in Ventura County just as it is experiencing record numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. “We are in the surge,” Levin said. “We hoped we would dodge it.”
Graph by County of Ventura
Ventura County Public Health has reported a new record number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 each day this week, culminating in 151 patients in the hospital with the virus on Dec. 10. This Dec. 10 chart, available with others showing different local COVID-19 metrics, can be viewed at www.venturacountyrecovers.org.
Austin Widger,
Ojai Valley News reporter
Ventura County government officials highlighted the record number of county residents hospitalized and in the ICU with COVID-19.
Every day this week a new record was set for hospitalizations, they reported at the county’s weekly COVID-19 press conference Dec. 9.
Dr. John Fankhauser, CEO of Ventura County Medical Center and Santa Paula Hospital, said: “Four weeks ago, there were 35 patients with COVID in our hospitals in Ventura County. Four weeks ago. Every day since then … there’s been an increase in the numbers of hospitalized patients with COVID in our county. Today (Dec. 9), we’r
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