Monthly Archives: November 2020

California, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA

COVID19 hospitalizations – daily update for Solano County

COVID19.CA.GOV offers the best up to date information on the coronavirus in Solano County, in most respects even better than the daily update by the Solano County Public Health Department.  (Case count by city is only available on the Solano County COVID19 Dashboard.)

The hospitalization details below are current as of now, and will be automatically updated here on the Benicia Independent with each new day’s report from CA.GOV.

Hover your mouse over items to see detailed data, including numbers on a given date.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Solano County COVID cases top 10,000, 112 new cases, 12 new hospitalizations, test rate 12.3%

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard.  For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE.]

Wednesday, November 25: 112 new cases overnight, no deaths.  Since the outbreak began: 10,036 cases, 597 hospitalized, 81 deaths.Compare previous report, Tuesday, Nov. 23:Summary

  • Solano County reported 112 new cases overnight.  As of today, Solano has seen an average of 115 new cases per day over the last 14 days!  Total of 10,036 cases since the outbreak started.
  • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 81 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
  • Active cases – Solano reported 58 more active cases today, having added 60 over the weekend and 77 yesterday, total of 913 active cases, a Solano County record.  Active cases have increased alarmingly lately – COMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284 – today we are at 913!!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
  • Hospitalizations – The County didn’t report on hospitalizations at all on Monday and Tuesday this week.  (See BenIndy report, SFChron and CA.gov report sharp rise in Solano hospitalizations.)  Today the County reports that the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized persons increased by 12, total of 63.
    Solano County hospitalizations, 11/24/20, Covid19.ca.gov

    Covid19.ca.gov reports an additional 11 suspected cases who are currently hospitalized, for a possible total of 74 currently hospitalized COVID patients.
    TOTAL hospitalized since the outbreak began increased by 48 (!) today, total of 597.  This one-day increase of 48 probably represents a catching up on hospitalizations previously unreported by the County.  [For manual calculation of total, see age group stats below.]

  • ICU Beds – The County reported fewer ICU beds available today, dropping from 52% to 33%.  The percentage has fluctuated widely over the last week or so, ranging from 21% to last Friday’s 52%.  Covid19.ca.gov reports details: Solano County has 15 COVID patients in ICU beds (and 2 additional suspected COVID patients in ICU beds), possible total of 17, with 12 ICU beds remaining available.
  • Testing – The County reports today that 1,066 residents were tested since yesterday, a total of 124,077 unduplicated residents tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  27.7% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate – still extremely high, 12.3%

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate yesterday fell from yesterday’s all-time high of 15.5% to 12.3% – still far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on the rise lately, and rose substantially today from 5.9% to 6.5%.  (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group
  • Youth 17 and under – 23 new cases today, total of 1,151 cases, representing 11.5% of the 10,036 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age group.  But cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 182 (!) new cases today, total of 5,864 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents just under 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 12 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 193 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 60 (!) new cases today, total of 1,950 cases.  This age group represents over 19% of the 10,036 total cases.  The County reported 9 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 161 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 15 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 26 new cases today, total of 1066, representing 10.6% of Solano’s 10,036 total cases.  The County reported 27 (!) new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 229 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, total of 60 of our elders who died of COVID.  This group accounts for 60 of the 81 total deaths, or 74%.
City Data
  • Benicia added 9 new cases today, total of 276 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 27 (!) new cases today, total of 670 cases.
  • Fairfield added 75 (!) new cases today, total of 3,076 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 3 new cases today, total of 80 cases.
  • Suisun City added 20 (!) new cases today, total of 691 cases.
  • Vacaville added 72 (!) new cases today, total of 2,030 cases.
  • Vallejo added 81 (!) new cases today, total of 3,174 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 4 (!) new cases today, total of 39 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 19% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 23% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 23% of cases, 27% of hospitalizations, and 18% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 25% of cases, 27% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is USUALLY full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA

SF Chronicle and CA.gov report sharp rise in Solano County hospitalizations

By Roger Straw, November 25, 2020

The Solano County summary dashboard has failed to display numbers so far this week for Currently Hospitalized patients.  (However, see below for details found on the Solano dashboard’s graph chart.)

This morning, the San Francisco Chronicle reported  that we have 61 patients in the hospital as of yesterday, Tues Nov 24.  This represents an increase of 10 patients since the County’s last report on Fri Nov 20.  See details below.

Even better, the State of California covid19.ca.gov reported that Solano had 63 patients in the hospital as of Tues Nov 24, which would indicate an increase of 12 patients since Solano last reported.  This report also contains important information on suspected cases and ICU beds.  See details below.

Santa Clara, Solano counties worry COVID-19 patients soon will overwhelm hospitals

SFChronicle, November 25, 2020

COVID hospitalizations spiking in some counties: Two Bay Area counties have more patients hospitalized with COVID-19 now than at any other time in the pandemic, raising concerns that they will be overwhelmed if cases climb as expected after Thanksgiving. Solano County had 61 COVID-19 patients in hospitals as of Tuesday — four more than the peak in the summer surge. Santa Clara County had 201 patients, five more than the summer high. In the Bay Area, 614 people were hospitalized, well below the summer peak of 815, but a 39% increase over just the past week.

covid19.ca.gov shows Solano with 63 currently hospitalized patients as of Wed Nov 24

…additional details:
    • 63 currently hospitalized COVID patients
    • 11 more suspected cases who are currently hospitalized, for a possible total of 74 currently hospitalized COVID patients
    • 15 COVID patients in ICU beds (and 2 additional suspected COVID patients in ICU beds), possible total of 17
    • 12 ICU beds remaining available

Solano County dashboard on hospitalizations: no summary number, but delayed reporting is visible on graph chart

For months, I have relied on a simple numerical representation of current hospitalizations on Solano County’s daily COVID update.  For the first time this week, that box has shown “No Value.”  The dashboard also has a graphic chart of current hospitalizations, but it shows delayed results, so I have quit relying on it.  In fact I hadn’t even looked at it for a long time.  When I remembered, I checked yesterday’s graph, and sure enough, it does show some new information.  Here’s the graph from yesterday, presented on the Solano County COVID dashboard at around 4pm.

On the dashboard only, not on this screenshot, if you hover over each day’s point on the graph, you will get a small popup showing the County’s number of currently hospitalized patients on that date.  Hospitalizations have been on a very steep climb lately.  The most recent date shows Sat Nov 21 with 59 COVID patients hospitalized, an increase of 8 over the 51 reported on Fri Nov 20.

2020 elections, Benicia CA, Dixon CA, Election results, Fairfield CA, Local elections, Rio Vista CA, Solano County CA, Suisun City CA, Vacaville CA, Vallejo CA

Final certified election results: Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, Rio Vista, Dixon, Solano County

By Roger Straw, November 25, 2020

Solano County has completed it’s count and certified election results.  The Registrar of Voters office posted the final count at 4pm on Tuesday, November 24.

The County provides excellent reports on its website.  Most interesting in my opinion is the report titled  Certified Election Results Site (Downloadable format).  This is actually an html web page, but if you click on Reports at top right, you will be able to download Excel or PDF files for:

The page is also searchable.  For instance, in your browser just search on “benicia” and you will find results for local races and Benicia’s Measure D.

Solano County Election Results
Last Updated: November 24, 2020 – 4:00PM
Results below are certified, no additional changes can be made.

Total Ballots Issued:
Vote By Mail & In person for Registered voters – 258,850

Ballots Processed & Counted
Vote by Mail – 178,5112
In person – 30,490

Certified Election Results SUMMARY Report (PDF report) [note that as of today, this link does NOT load the Certified Nov 24 results]
Certified Election Results PRECINCT Report (PDF report)
Certified Election Results DISTRICT Report (PDF report)
Certified Election Results Site (Downloadable format)