Santa Cruz County Announces First COVID-19 Deaths In 2 Months

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Santa Cruz County announced its first COVID-19-related deaths in two months Monday.

Two unvaccinated people in their 70s were sickened with the highly transmissible delta variant due to community spread and died in local hospitals Monday, Aug. 2, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency announced. One patient resided in North County, while the other lived in Mid-County. They marked the 208th and 209th COVID-19-related deaths in the county.

Santa Cruz County had a substantial rate of COVID-19 transmission as of last week, but the county now has a high rate of transmission, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many officials in California and across the country have called the recent rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths a "pandemic of the unvaccinated."

County Health Officer Dr. Gail Newel urged residents to get vaccinated to prevent or minimize the likelihood of becoming seriously ill due to symptoms of COVID-19.

“With the widespread availability of vaccines, we had hoped to avoid further deaths and serious illnesses due to COVID-19,” Newel said in a statement. “Unfortunately, that is not happening, and our health care system is being impacted once more."

More than 400 signed a petition organized by Julia Monahan on change.org urging Newel to institute a mask mandate in the county, as the Santa Cruz Sentinel first reported. The CDC recommends indoor mask use regardless of vaccination status in counties where COVID-19 transmission is considered substantial.

"While the vaccines are a powerful tool and arguably the most important weapon in our battle against COVID, we have to work together to do more to protect our community, our children, and our most vulnerable," the petition stated.

Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin noted that the county recommended all people wear masks indoors regardless of vaccination status July 19.

"At this time, Santa Cruz County does not have any plans for a county-wide masking mandate," said county Health Services Agency spokesperson Corinne Hyland in an email.

There were more than 500 active COVID-19 cases in Santa Cruz County as of Sunday, the most recent day for which data was available Monday. Twelve COVID-19 patients were hospitalized here and four intensive care unit beds were available as of Sunday.

Sign up for a COVID-19 vaccine in Santa Cruz County.