When asked to rate clinicians’ concern about COVID on a scale of 1 to 5, Dr. David Fisk replied, “It’s at a 10.” Fisk, the chief infectious disease physician for Cottage Health, then added, “The storm clouds are gathering. The virus is running rampant. It’s increasing very rapidly to the point where positive rate numbers are approaching 1 out of 10. That’s dramatically higher compared to our 1 out of 100 positivity rate just a month ago.”
In Santa Barbara County, that the highest number of new cases were in Santa Maria was nothing for South County residents to feel comfortable about, Fisk added. “There’s a very hot, active process of disease occurring in South County as well.”
Raising the alarm level for doctors and nurses is the three-day Fourth of July holiday — which starts tomorrow — customarily celebrated with family and friends in big backyard barbecues. “We’ve had disease clusters associated with barbecues and bonfires in Santa Barbara County and nationally,” Fisk said. The Fourth comes amid escalating case counts three to four weeks after the Memorial Day holiday, which saw scads of people enjoying the beaches, parks, and trails.