California surpassed 4,000 deaths in the COVID-19 crisis today. On Wednesday, the nation had more than 100,000 people who died from the disease. In Santa Barbara, a third death has been reported at Lompoc penitentiary, but the county’s status page does not list it. This would the 13th death in the county from COVID-19. (That story appears at “More Suffering and Death at Lompoc Prison.” )
The county’s health official stated at today’s press conference that the county’s reopening would “pause” for a week while Public Health assessed the impact of a recent sunny weekend. Joining Dr. Henning Ansorg at the day’s press conference was Suzanne Grimmesey of County Behavioral Wellness and Reverend Dave Moore, whose church is among those that could open in a limited way .
“My own congregation meets over Zoom,” Rev. Moore said, “and we livestream each Sunday on Facebook. Only the building is closed, not our church.” He went on to say that they all missed being able to bring their voices together, “but that’s a small price to pay to protect our families and our communities.”