Monthly Archives: January 2022

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Vaccine, Vaccine booster

Report shows booster way more effective than only two shots

Less than half of us who are eligible have gotten our booster!

Three HUGE new CDC studies were featured on CNN this morning, emphasizing the critical importance of getting your booster shot:

Boosters prevent hospitalizations
Boosters prevent ER/Urgent Care visits
Boosters prevent Omicron illnesss
  • Booster effectiveness at preventing omicron hospitalizations: Boosters 90%, Two Shots 57%
  • Booster effectiveness at preventing omicron ER-UrgentCare Visits: Boosters 82%, Two Shots 38%
  • Booster effectiveness at preventing omicron illness: 66% lower for people who had booster vs. two shots along
Let’s be clear: who/when should get the booster…
Dr. Leanna Wen urges CDC to redefine booster as “third shot” so public will understand boosters are essential, not a “nice-to-have”.
Here’s the full CNN report, only 8 minutes of your time:
Benicia Unified School District, BUSD Superintendent Charles Young

Benicia School District Superintendent to retire at end of this school year

After seven years as Benicia Unified School District Superintendent, Dr. Charles F. Young sent the following message to the community this morning.

Superintendent Community and Staff Update, January 21, 2022

Jan 21, 2022 | Latest News

Dear BUSD Community and Staff,

After much contemplation, prayer, and conversation with my loving family, and with the utmost admiration and respect for this very special community, I have made the difficult decision to retire at the end of this school year.  This is my 35th year in public education and I have deeply enjoyed my time serving students, families, educators, and communities in the Bay Area.  My career as an educator has been profoundly gratifying and humbling.  I want to express how honored and blessed I feel to have served as your Superintendent these last seven years.

BUSD is an outstanding school district with amazing students, talented, hard-working staff, and a supportive, caring, involved community and it has been such a joy for me to work with everyone over the years.  When I set out on my career path many years ago, it was important to me to live a life worth meaning, and so I pursued a career in public education.

Within this profession, I have had the opportunity to help support and educate our youth as well as work alongside some of the most caring, intelligent, and gracious individuals I have ever met, all of whom have been motivated to see students grow and succeed. I am profoundly grateful for each student I have taught, each teacher, principal, administrator, staff member of the many departments within a school district, and parent I have had the opportunity to work with.

And now, with great care and intention, the Board will engage in the process of selecting your new superintendent and will keep you informed and engaged as they go through this important process.  I am excited for the next superintendent of this wonderful school district who will, as I have, enjoy the distinct honor of serving this wonderful school district and town.

I look forward to the remainder of this school year as we continue to collaborate as a community, working to provide outstanding educational services on behalf of our deserving students.

Thank you again for your support and commitment to BUSD. These last seven years have been some of the most deeply meaningful and fulfilling of my career and it would not have been possible without all of you. I thank each of you and hope for an even brighter future for each student, their families, staff, and everyone within the Benicia community.

On we go!

Charles F. Young, Ed.D.
Superintendent

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

COVID running rampant in Solano County, Benicia, all other cities, one new child death

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

January 19, 2022 SUMMARY: Solano County recorded 4,384 new infections today, 6,554 in the last week! Nearly 1,500 children and young teens infected this past week. 5 new COVID-related deaths reported today, including a child of 0-17 years. Solano COVID charts show the massive Omicron spike…

Source: Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard, Jan 19, 2022

Solano Public Health COVID dashboard, Wednesday, January 19:

DEATHS: Solano reported 5 new deaths today, one age 0-17, two age 50-64, and two 65+.  One was Asian American, one Hispanic/Latinx, and three White.  Trending: The County reported 27 COVID deaths in September, 18 in October, 14 in November, 22 in December, and 18 already in January (54 of us have died over 64 days since the uptick beginning on November 15).  A total of 369 Solano residents have now died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES BY AGE GROUP: The County reported 4,384 new COVID cases today.  970 of these 4,384 new cases were youth and children under 18, equaling 22% of the total, highest percentage ever in Solano and higher than the current national percentage of 16.6% [Source: CDC covid-data-tracker].  The majority, 2,335 cases (53%) were age 18-49.  712 cases (16%) were age 50-64, and 364 (8%) were 65+.
BELOW: color-coded chart shows CASES SINCE THE OUTBREAK BEGAN BY AGE GROUP, each as a percentage of TOTAL CASES SINCE THE OUTBREAK BEGAN.  Increases are in red and decreases are in green as reported by Solano County since April of 2020.  Note the continuing increase among children & youth of Solano County.  The population of those age 0-17 in Solano County is roughly 22%.COMPARE – U.S. cases among children and youth aged 0-17 as percentage of total cases is 16.6% as of today, up dramatically from 15.9% on Monday.  (From the CDC covid-data-tracker.)

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE:  Solano has risen dramatically and almost daily since December 27 into an EXTREMELY HIGH transmission rate, with a total of 6,554 new cases over the last 7 days, up from only 324 a month ago.  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 or more cases in 7 days places Solano in the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate.  We would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 6,210 ACTIVE cases is up from 377 a month ago.

CASES BY CITY – Wednesday, January 19:

  • Benicia added 215 new cases in the last 5 days, a total of 2,507 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia has seen 319 new infections in the last 7 days, rising far above the CDC’s HIGH rate of community transmission. >(For a city with Benicia’s population, anything over 27 cases in 7 days is considered HIGH TRANSMISSION).  (see chart below).  Based on Benicia population, MODERATE is defined as less than 14 cases over the last 7 days, SUBSTANTIAL is 14-27 cases, and HIGH is 28 or more cases.  Benicia will need to maintain fewer than 14 new cases-per-7-days for 30 consecutive days before relaxing its mask mandate.  Note above that Solano County is currently also experiencing HIGH transmission.

  • Dixon added 225 new cases today, total of 3,442 cases.
  • Fairfield added 1,079 new cases today, total of 16,821 cases.
  • Rio Vista reported 55 new cases today, total of 868 cases.
  • Suisun City added 274 new cases today, total of 4,420 cases.
  • Vacaville added 808 new cases today, a total of 15,665 cases.
  • Vallejo added 1,725 new cases today, a total of 20,300 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 3 new cases today, a total of 172 cases.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Solano County’s 7-Day Percent Positive Test Rate shot up after Christmas and has continued through today’s incredibly high 36%.  COMPARE: Today the California 7-day % positive rate fell slightly today to 19.0%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  The U.S. 7-day % positive rate fell slightly today to 28.2%. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

Solano % Positive Tests chart, Jan 19, 2022 – Source: Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard

 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations: rose today from 118 to 154 persons, our highest number since January 22, 2021. (See also TOTAL hospitalizations, next below…)

TOTAL hospitalizations – Today’s age chart shows 2 previously unreported hospitalizations. Since December 1, Solano has reported 390 new hospitaliz-ations by age group, including 206 since Christmas and 85 just this past week.  Our total since the beginning of the outbreak is now 3,431 hospitalizations.   (Data on age is more reliable than that on race/ethnicity.)

ICU Bed Availability in Solano County fell from 20% at last report to only 17% today, in the Yellow danger zone.

Ventilator Availability  was down slightly, from 64% to 63%.

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 in my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday around 4 or 5pm.  On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information.  Note the tabs at top for “Summary, Demographics” and “Vaccines.”  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.

See also my BENINDY ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).  I have also archived the hundreds of full CORONAVIRUS REPORTS posted here almost daily on the Benicia Independent since April 2020.

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Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Vaccine, Vaccine booster, Vaccine mandate

VIDEO: Benicia City Council chooses to continue mask mandate

BENICIA CITY COUNCIL DISCUSSION ON MASK MANDATE, JANUARY 18, 2022

For a little over an hour last night, Benicia City staff, Council and members of the public discussed whether to continue Benicia’s COVID-19 mask mandate, and what “metrics” should be used to determine when it is safe to lift the mandate.

In light of the current upswing and unpredictability given the Omicron surge, Council chose to leave the mandate in place, and to keep an eye on mask regulations issued by the State of California Department of Public Health.

It’s a fascinating discussion.  Below you can view the entire conversation, or choose one or more shorter segments of particular interest: public comments by Benicia residents Stephen Golub, Marilyn Bardet, and Dr. Richard Fleming (and also the follow-up Q&A with Dr. Fleming. )  Finally, you may view Mayor Young’s 1-minute closing summary.

The entire conversation, Benicia City Council Meeting on Jan 18, 2022, ITEM 21.B) – UPDATE ON FACE COVERINGS MANDATE…

Public comment by Benicia resident Stephen Golub
Public comment by Benicia resident Marilyn Bardet
Public comment by Benicia resident Dr. Richard Fleming (including a really informative follow-up Q&A with Mayor Young)

No Action summary by Mayor Young (mask mandate remains in place for now):