The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution to prepare for the next pandemic on May 20.
In response to the 2024-25 Santa Barbara County grand jury’s March 10 report that identified a need for the county Health Department to develop a proactive approach to the next potential epidemic, board members Laura Capps, Roy Lee, and Joan Hartmann—the only members in attendance—all voted to support pandemic preparations at the meeting.
“Another epidemic in Santa Barbara County is not merely a possibility—it is an inevitability,” the grand jury wrote in its report, titled “Is The Santa Barbara County Public Health Department Prepared for the Next Epidemic?”
“The emergence of new infectious agents that may cause devastating outbreaks is occurring at an alarming rate. The 2024-2025 grand jury has identified shortcomings in Santa Barbara County’s readiness for a new epidemic,” the report states…