An alarming surge in new COVID-19 cases 2,561 new infections confirmed over the weekend prompted Ventura County officials on Monday to plead for the community s help during a news conference. We are on a surge that makes the previous surge we saw look small, said Dr. Robert Levin, the county s public health officer, during the live-streamed event.
Just three weeks ago, Levin noted, 610 new cases were reported on Monday, when the update includes weekend data collected Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The figure Levin announced at Monday s news conference also dwarfs the record set a week earlier, when the Monday report totaled 1,289 confirmed coronavirus infections over the weekend. During the height of the prior surge in July and early August, Monday reports peaked in the 500s, never breaking the 600 mark.
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.