Category: Health

Santa Barbara First District Supervisor Das Williams — Historic Heat Wave & Energy Shortages – What You Need to Know

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There is a significant warming trend and heatwave impacting California and the rest of the West Coast that will put pressure on our energy grid. In order to avoid electricity shortages, we are asking businesses and residents to reduce energy usage in order to prevent service interruptions.  

It’s especially important to limit energy usage from 3 pm to 10 pm, especially air conditioning, electric car charging and other energy intensive technology.

Sign up to receive Flex Alert notifications from your utility provider to help California conserve energy during times of grid stress. You can also check out https://readysbc.org/psps/ for tips on what to do before, during, and after power loss.

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Santa Maria Joint Unified School District announces non-traditional back to school

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School starts August 17 in a non-traditional way at SMJUHSD, as COVID-19 forces the continuance of distance learning at least until December when a re-valuation of returning to school safely occurs.

“I want to wish everyone the best year considering the circumstances,’’ said school board president Amy Lopez. “It will be different, but staff are working hard to make learning engaging for our students. We all want our students to return, but it must be safe for them to do so.’’

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The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley (BGCGCV) Announces School Year Programs

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The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley (BGCGCV) is ready to assist parents with back-to-school programs and activities in addition to childcare.

The programs include academic support, assistance with online learning, sports & games, performing & fine arts, science, socialization, social emotional learning, and leadership development.

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Bilingual report — Dr. Himat Tank of Santa Maria Recognized as Champion in Health Care

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Dr. Himat Tank, pediatric physician in Santa Maria, is being recognized as a Champion in Health Care. This week, Pacific Coast Business Times published its annual list of front line medical workers, first responders, and volunteers who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to providing quality care. Nominated by local Medi-Cal managed care plan CenCal Health, Tank is honored in the Treating the Underserved category, as he has been the doctor of choice for parents of many CenCal Health members since the agency was founded in 1983.

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Southeast Ventura County YMCA Branches Offer New Outdoor/Virtual Group Exercise Classes

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The Southeast Ventura County YMCA is now offering outdoor exercise classes at its three branch locations and virtual exercise classes online.

Outdoor exercise classes include total body conditioning, group cycle, spin, Pilates/yoga, boot camp, tai chi and senior-focused exercises. Classes start as early as 6:00 a.m., Monday through Friday, at the Conejo Valley YMCA, Simi Valley Family YMCA and Yarrow Family YMCA. The classes are free to YMCA members and $29 per month (introductory rate) for nonmembers.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 11 — Be Counted

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2020 Census The Census helps determine how our community gets the funds we need to support education, healthcare, and critical infrastructure. By participating, you make an impact on our community for the next 10 years.

If your haven’t filled out the 2020 Census, you can complete it today by visiting www.my2020census.gov or calling 1-844-330-2020.

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No-Cost Healthcare for Front Line Agriculture Workers in the Age of COVID-19

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While California battles the second wave of COVID-19 cases, local agriculture workers are putting themselves in harm’s way to produce product for consumers and businesses. Latinos represent the majority of California’s essential workforce and make up around 55% of the state’s confirmed COVID-19 cases to date. With their lives on the line to provide for others, these workers not only face the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, but many do not have health insurance should they need medical care to treat the virus.

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Bilingual commentary — Time to Reflect on the American Diet

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The apparently never-ending coronavirus pandemic has punched a hole in the panorama that was our American diet up to now.  Suddenly, beginning earlier this year, meat became scarce.  Delicately balanced supply chains were knocked off-balance, partly due to meat production workers “dropping like flies” as the virus surged through factories and warehouses. Meat counters in grocery stores became sparse and the cost of the meat that was available started to rise due to demand for the limited supply. Major grocery outlets started rationing quantities of meat to its customers to avoid the toilet-paper-hoarding fiasco that occurred at the beginning of the pandemic.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 6

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The California Department of Public Health has issued Youth Sports Guidance. Youth sports training, conditioning and physical education is now permitted in Ventura County when those activities include continuous physical distancing of at least six feet and a stable cohort, i.e. the same children at each meeting. Teams, classes, and other youth sports activities that involve contact, competitive or team play are not permitted. The State guidance document may be found at COVID-19 Industry Guidance: Youth Sports.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 5

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There are 76 new cases today (46 (60.5%) of which have a lab collection from July 29th or earlier), 872 additional people tested, and 2 additional deaths (68 year old female and 96 year old male, both with comorbidities).

Current doubling time is 52.3 days.

The California Department of Public Health is experiencing delays in laboratory reporting. The information for August 5 is preliminary until the data system issue is resolved. Learn more by clicking here.

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Bilingual report — Mi Vida, Mi Voz Community Collaboration Provides Critical Resource Information for Spanish Speaking Community 

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Due to the current coronavirus pandemic and economic crisis, many people in the Spanish-speaking Latino community are not getting the important information they may need for themselves and their families. For years, the Spanish-speaking community has struggled to receive timely, culturally-appropriate information related to emerging needs. In April, Mi Vida, Mi Voz (MVMV), a collaboration of local Latino-serving organizations, pivoted to address this critical need. With the pandemic’s disproportionate health and economic impact in the Latino community, this critical information is more relevant than ever.  

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County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 4 — Community Forum on Aug. 5

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On Wednesday, August 5, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the County of Ventura will host a virtual Community Forum open to all members of the public online via Zoom to discuss the intersection of race and law enforcement in our community. The Community Forum will consist of a panel of County leaders and community representatives who will participate in a roundtable discussion, followed by questions from the public.

Click here for more information about the forum.

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County (BBSVC) looking for volunteers to serve as mentors

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Big Brothers Big Sisters of Ventura County (BBSVC) is celebrating 50 years of service through youth mentoring in 2020! The organization serves all of Ventura County and because of that there are nearly 100 youth waiting for a mentor. BBSVC is asking the community to imagine the impact they can make as a friend and role model.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 Update for Aug. 3

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Here’s your COVID-19 update from the County of Ventura from Friday-Sunday. There are 533 new cases today (231 (43.3%) of which have a lab collection from July 27th or earlier), 4,217 additional people tested, and 0 additional deaths; this includes reports from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Current doubling time is 43.8 days.

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Bilingual report — County residents asked to turn in seed shipments from China to Agricultural Commissioner’s Office

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Residents across the country have been receiving unsolicited and mysterious seeds shipped from China. The seeds are arriving in small mailer envelopes labeled with descriptions such as “stud earrings”, “jewelry”, “handmade flowers”, and “wire connectors”. Since it is illegal to ship seeds unless they meet the import requirements of the United States – including proper labeling with the name of the shipper, the type of seed, and certification where required – the small packets are sent mislabeled in order to pass through Customs undetected.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 update for July 29

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Good Evening, Here’s your COVID-19 update form the County of Ventura. There are 104 new cases today (53 (51.0%) of which have a lab collection from July 22nd or earlier), 636 additional people tested, and 2 additional deaths (86 year old female and 90 year old male, both with comorbidities).  Current doubling time is 41.2 days. Currently, the County of Ventura is on the state monitoring list for case rate per 100,000 population over 14 days and % of ICU beds available; in order for us to get off the monitoring list, we need to have less than 850 reported cases in a 14 day period which is an average of 60 cases a day. Total, there have been 73 deaths (age range 29-107 years; 45 males and 28 females; 35 Non-Hispanic White, 31 Hispanic, 4 Non-Hispanic Asian, 1 Non-Hispanic Black, 1 Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaskan Native and 1 Non-Hispanic Other). Current hospitalizations are 75 and current ICU is 25. 

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EDC Business Alert — Paycheck Protection Program Deadline is Aug. 8

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SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan application deadline is August 8,2020. PPP is designed to help small business, nonprofits, veteran organizations, Tribal concerns, self-employed individuals, independent contractors, and other eligible borrowers keep their workers employed during the COVID-19 crisis.

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New Book Offers Guidelines For Happiness, Health, Success in A COVID-19 World

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A new book from Camarillo-based psychologist and author Dr. Noelle Nelson, “I Survived COVID-19, What Now?! Finding Happiness and Success in a Post COVID World” (available on Amazon), looks at how we can take what we’re learning from the pandemic during our forced introspection and turn it into a positive future.

“Whether it was our intention or not, we’re all learning things about ourselves during these long months of quarantine—how we think, work and dream, about how we interact with family, friends and the world,” says Nelson. “We are in a unique moment in time because of COVID-19. Everything is different now. It can feel positively overwhelming—one minute our lives are ‘reopening,’ the next minute they’re forced to closed again. It can drive us crazy if we’re not careful.”

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Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley (BGCGCV) Take Proactive Steps to Continue to Serve Community through the Pandemic

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As soon as COVID-19 made its way onto the scene, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater of Greater Conejo Valley (BGCGCV) was proactive in their response starting in the spring and continuing throughout the summer. 

When the pandemic hit, the BGCGCV closed for two weeks to assess the COVID situation and then reopened under the guidance of health professionals and with the implementation of safety standards.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 update for July 28 — Vitalant is collecting plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19

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Vitalant is collecting plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19.

To be eligible, you must have:

A prior laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19, either by a positive swab test OR a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies requested by your health care provider
Complete resolution of symptoms for at least 28 days
All other donor eligibility for an automated plasma donation
Learn more at: https://www.vitalant.org/covidfree

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Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine Nationally Recognized for Supporting the Safety Net

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Doctors Without Walls – Santa Barbara Street Medicine (DWW–SBSM) has been nationally recognized for its healthcare efforts to benefit the homeless in the Santa Barbara community. Nominated by local Medi-Cal managed care plan CenCal Health, DWW–SBSM received an honorable mention from The Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) at its fifteenth annual Supporting the Safety Net Award program held last month. The earned recognition honors community organizations and individuals nationwide that exceed expectations for care by implementing health programs to benefit underserved populations.

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Santa Barbara First District Supervisor Das Williams — Let’s Get Out of this Together

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America, and even our community, is very divided on how to respond to the strange times we are in. However, we must be united in concern about the futures of our children and grandchildren, preserving lives, and saving as many jobs and people from poverty.

How can we do all that?

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For Whom the Bell Tolls: COVID-19 Death Patterns in California

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Report no.7 of UCLA’s Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture addresses the effects of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on Latino communities. As of July 8, 2020, a total of 6,519 people in California had died due to COVID-19?associated conditions. These deaths did not occur randomly in the state’s population. Rather, they occurred more in some racial/ethnic (R/E) populations than in others.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 update for July 23

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Here is your COVID-19 update for the County of Ventura.

107 new cases

6,156 total cases

1,641 new people tested

3,360 recovered cases

88 hospitalized

18 current ICU

2,733 active cases under quarantine

63 deaths

100,289 total people tested

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Close to $4 million Raised for Santa Barbara County through COVID-19 Joint Response Effort Led by United Way of Santa Barbara County, Santa Barbara Foundation and Hutton Parker Foundation

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, monies raised for the COVID-19 Joint Response Effort to support Santa Barbara County are still available to help individuals and families, as well as the nonprofits serving them, during this time of crisis. Those still in need of financial assistance are encouraged to apply for funding as soon as possible.

“United Way and its lead partners deeply appreciate our community’s trust in this collaborative effort as we get these funds into the hands of individuals and organizations that desperately need financial support,” said Steve Ortiz, CEO and President of the United Way of Santa Barbara County.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 update for July 21

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Here is your COVID-19 update from the County of Ventura.

207 new cases

5,955 total cases

1,519 new people tested

3,000 recovered cases

94 hospitalizations

24 in the ICU

62 deaths (4 additional deaths – 79 year-old female with no comorbidity; and a 73 year-old male, an 82 year-old male, and a 98 year-old male – all with comorbidities)

2,893 active cases under quarantine

97,124 total people tested

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All Ventura County Schools to Begin New Year with Only Distance Learning

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Following the release of new state guidelines announced (on July 17) by Governor Gavin Newsom, all Ventura County school districts and charter schools will begin the new school year using distance learning without bringing students back to their campuses. The new guidance comes a day after most Ventura County schools had already committed to beginning the year with distance learning in support of the effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

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Ventura County Business Ambassadors help businesses navigate COVID-19 compliance

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To support local businesses and help ensure ongoing compliance with State and County Health orders and direction, the County of Ventura implemented a Business Ambassador program in partnership with City code enforcement partners, early in the COVID-19 response efforts. The special program has assisted businesses with navigating State and local guidance.

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County of Ventura COVID-19 update for July 17

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Here is your COVID-19 update from the County of Ventura.

224 new cases

1,588 new people tested

5,192 total cases

2,726 recovered cases

95 hospitalizations

31 in the ICU

57 deaths (1 additional death – 77 year-old male)

89,336 total people tested

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