Santa Maria Joint Union High School District (SMJUHSD) notified law enforcement on March 4 that a hoax text message had been circulating on social media, erroneously stating that there were four cases of COVID-19, or coronavirus, in Santa Barbara County, including two at Santa Maria High School.
According to a March 4 media statement sent by SMJUHSD Public Information Officer Kenny Klein, there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Santa Barbara County nor at the high school. This statement was confirmed to the Sun by Santa Barbara County Public Health Department’s public information officer, Jackie Ruiz.
Klein told the Sun in an email that he was not aware of who sent the text or whether it was a student.
“It was a text that someone put on social media, and that’s how we found out about it,” Klein wrote.
Once the text was discovered by SMJUHSD officials, Klein said the district quickly issued an email to Santa Maria High School staff confirming that it was a hoax. Staff members passed the information on to students, and the district also sent a recorded message to all parents and guardians informing them of the situation.
“Inaccurate information on social media is always a challenge, but we try to stay on top of it,” Klein told the Sun.
Though there are currently no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Santa Barbara County, county officials continue to work with the California Department of Public Health to monitor nine individuals who have recently traveled to areas of concern, according to Ruiz. These “asymptomatic travelers” will remain under self-isolation until their cases are cleared, Ruiz said.
Santa Barbara County has also been working with health care partners to prepare for the possibility of coronavirus making its way to the Central Coast.
“For weeks, we have been on calls with our health care partners … to prepare for coronavirus that may come into our county,” Ruiz said. “We are working in a coordinated way to provide messaging to the public.”
In the county Public Health Department’s most recent press release posted March 7 on its website, the department urges “agencies, businesses, organizations, and health care providers throughout the county” to develop or update a plan for social distancing within 24 to 48 hours. Social distancing means reducing one’s contact with others—for example, working from home, the release states.
While the health department urges the swift creation of social distancing plans, officials have not recommended that these plans be enacted yet.
“Once cases of COVID-19 are found in the community, it will be time to implement social distancing plans,” county Health Officer Dr. Henning Ansorg wrote in the March 7 press release.
“We’re in a preparation phase,” Ruiz emphasized. “There are no confirmed cases of community transmission.”
This article appears in Mar 12-19, 2020.