Latest Santa Cruz COVID-19 Case Count; 33 Sickened In Outbreak

SANTA CRUZ, CA — Twenty-seven residents and six staff members at skilled nursing facility Watsonville Post Acute Center have tested positive for the coronavirus.

That's more than a third of the 73 residents of the facility.

Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel made the announcement at a Thursday news conference, calling the outbreak "very significant and worrisome" with serious potential to grow and result in fatalities.

County health officials will likely never know how the outbreak originated since staff and residents tested positive simultaneously, but it's more likely that a staff member brought the coronavirus into the facility since residents are staying put.

Sick residents are in isolation and sick staffers are quarantining at home, according to the facility's website. Watsonville Post Acute Center is dealing with significant staffing shortages and the California National Guard has been called in to assist.

"From everything we've seen, they were doing everything possible to prevent this kind of outbreak," Newel said.

News of the outbreak comes as cases continue to climb in Santa Cruz County and officials have learned of another three deaths.

The ninth death, a Latinx woman in her early 60s, had underlying conditions. COVID-19 is her primary cause of death.

Two more deaths have been reported to county officials, but they are waiting to confirm by reviewing their death certificates before releasing additional information.

Additional cases have been reported in connection with Labor Day weekend and others have been tied to CZU August Lightning Complex evacuations. At least one COVID-19 case has been tied to an evacuation shelter, but most cases have been contracted as a result of person-to-person spread among members of the same household.

Newel stressed that testing is widely available now and there are generally excellent turnaround times of about 48 hours. Find out where to get tested here.

Given the pandemic, it's more important than ever to get a flu shot this year, she said. Flu shots are widely available at no- or low-cost. Find out where you can get vaccinated here.

There have been 2,319 COVID-19 cases reported in Santa Cruz County, including 306 active cases and 149 that required hospitalization. Watsonville remains the epicenter of the outbreak, with 1,300 cases reported there.

Here's the breakdown by city:

• Aptos: 102
• Ben Lomond: 18
• Boulder Creek: 19
• Capitola: 63
• Felton: 23
• Freedom: 124
• Santa Cruz: 430
• Scotts Valley: 54
• Soquel: 58
• Watsonville: 1,300
• Unincorporated: 24
• Under investigation: 104

Get updates on the Watsonville Post Acute Center outbreak here.