COVID-19 Case Rate Doubles In Santa Cruz County

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Santa Cruz County continued to urge vaccination Thursday as officials reported the COVID-19 case rate more than doubled in the last two weeks.

County health officials expected the case rate to continue to rise and projected that COVID-19-related hospitalizations will increase, too, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency announced in a news release. COVID-19 "is spreading much faster than we've seen before" as the highly transmissible delta variant surges, the agency said.

“The most important thing people can do to stop this pandemic and the spread of the delta variant is to get vaccinated,” said Dr. Gail Newel, county health officer. “The highest number of cases with the most severe outcomes are happening in places with low vaccination rates.”

Some fully vaccinated people have been sickened by the delta variant, but cases tend to be mild, and all three vaccines are effective in preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death, the Health Services Agency said.

COVID-19 transmission in Santa Cruz County was "substantial" from July 29 to Wednesday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That's the second-highest level.

Santa Cruz County is home to 460 active known COVID-19 cases. Some 17,000 COVID-19 cases have been diagnosed here since the beginning of the pandemic, and 207 people have died.

Sixteen COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Santa Cruz County as of Thursday. There are five intensive care unit beds available in the county, according to state statistics.