County Health Officer 'Very Hopeful'; Latest COVID-19 Case Counts

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — Santa Cruz County can count on remaining in the most-strict purple tier for the foreseeable future, but things appear to be looking up.

Though there are still too many holiday-fueled COVID-19 deaths in the community, there's less disease spread, said county Health Officer Gail Newel during a Thursday news conference. The county's modeling indicates that COVID-19-related deaths, cases, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions are all trending downward.

Just a week ago, Newel expressed concern that she believed Santa Cruz County would remain in a COVID-19 surge as conditions improved in the rest of the state.

"I'm feeling very hopeful," she said, smiling. "This is much better than I had anticipated."

Newel stressed that Santa Cruz County can still expect to remain in the purple tier for weeks to come, and residents should remain vigilant when it comes to social distancing and safety measures. It may not be until late spring or summer that the county moves into the red tier, which is the second-worst tier in the state's four-tiered, color-coded COVID-19 risk assessment system.

Older students may not return to the classroom this year, she said.

The county is nearing its first vaccine distribution milestone, as officials believe the 75 and older age group will be saturated soon. Next, the 65 and older age group can begin getting vaccinations, possibly as soon as next week, said David Ghilarducci, deputy health officer of the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency.

Santa Cruz County tends to receive 1,800 to 2,000 vaccine doses per week, but that number can widely vary.

The county is seeking to focus on vaccinating residents of the hardest-hit areas, where people are most likely to suffer death or serious injury, said Mimi Hall, director of the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency. That includes the Watsonville-area zip codes 95019, 95076 and 95077.

There have been 13,321 COVID-19 cases reported in Santa Cruz County as of Friday. That includes 148 related deaths and 1,847 active known cases.

Here's the breakdown by community:

• Aptos: 638
• Ben Lomond: 86
• Boulder Creek: 121
• Capitola: 360
• Felton: 120
• Freedom: 839
• Santa Cruz: 3,083
• Scotts Valley: 316
• Soquel: 294
• Watsonville: 7,061
• Unincorporated: 184
• Under investigation: 219