Monday Update: 22 New COVID-19 Cases; 17 in Lompoc

Lompoc Penitentiary inmates accounted for 14 of the 22 new COVID-19 cases reported by Santa Barbara Public Health on Monday, signaling the virus is still gnawing away at the prison. 

The department also announced that the fourth person to die from the virus was an inmate who passed away on Friday. The inmate, 66-year-old Oliver M. Boling, had been in custody at the Lompoc prison since May 7, 2018, Federal Bureau of Prisons officials said. 

“The situation at the federal prison in Lompoc is being managed as well as possible under the circumstances,” said Public Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg at the Monday press briefing. “There is excellent cooperation between the hospitals, the Bureau of Prisons, and the Public Health Department.”

The county’s 2nd District Supervisor Gregg Hart later added that the mobile hospital planned for the prison grounds is estimated to be complete by the end of the week, once “staffing issues” can be worked out.

The additional 22 cases Ansorg reported brings the county total to 416. Of the new cases, two live in Santa Barbara; two live in Santa Maria; one lives in an unincorporated area of the North County; and 17 live in Lompoc (including the 14 inmates).

Of the 416 total cases, 168 people are recovering at home; 43 are recovering in a hospital,15 of whom are in an intensive care unit; 176 have fully recovered; 25 are pending an update; and four have died as a direct result of the virus. 

Hart also addressed financial resources and impacts for residents facing financial strain, including undocumented immigrants who don’t qualify for unemployment or the federal stimulus checks. 

“Many residents of Santa Barbara County are suffering enormous financial hardship right now in the gap in time between loss of paychecks and the delays in receiving federal stimulus checks,” Hart said. “The [California immigrant relief fund] is incredibly important because our undocumented neighbors do not qualify for unemployment insurance, the federal stimulus check, or other government assistance.”

The state’s new guide for immigrant Californians to access the fund is available here.

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