Public Health Director Van Do-Reynoso announced Tuesday that Santa Barbara County has finished the applications for K-6 school reopening waivers, and is hosting trainings for districts to get more information.

Since the county is on the state’s monitoring list related to novel coronavirus case numbers, schools can only offer distance learning unless they are granted waivers for in-person classes.

The county application requires schools to submit their plans for campus cleaning, face coverings, screening students and staff for symptoms, physical distancing, regular staff testing, contact tracing when there is a confirmed case, and triggers for switching back to distance learning, Do-Reynoso told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

Reopening requires plans for “cohorting,” which is described as students “in small, stable groups with fixed membership that stay together for all activities (instruction, lunch, recess).”

When asked about options for doing the required testing, Do-Reynoso said the county’s three state-sponsored testing sites would be available for schools to use, and the Public Health Department is going to allocate two hours a day of its own testing sites to school districts.

“I checked, and we have capacity in our county, in particular at the OptumServe (state-run) sites,” she said. “So, Buellton, we are seeing an availability consistently of 100 slots a day, so that is available to all of the school districts.”

There are currently community testing sites in Santa Maria and Santa Barbara as well, but the Earl Warren Showgrounds site is closing in September, with a new one opening in Goleta, Do-Reynoso said.

Santa Barbara County was reporting 138 new positive cases per 100,000 people, over a 14-day period, as of Monday, which is higher than the state metric, and one of the reasons the region is still on the monitoring list, Do-Reynoso said. 

The Public Health Department reported 70 new cases on Tuesday, and one COVID-19-related death — of a North County resident over the age of 70.

The latest death brings the county’s total to 89, including three Lompoc federal prison inmates.

The county reported 51 COVID-19 hospitalizations, down from 79 two weeks before, with 21 patients being treated in intensive care units.

There have been 7,869 case of COVID-19 to date in the county.

— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.