A combine harvester makes its way through a wheat field in Suisun Valley, Friday, June 19, 2020. Solano County added 200 farm jobs in May, according to the state Employment Development Department. (Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic)
Unemployment drops in May; 20,000 fewer Solano jobs than 2019
FAIRFIELD — Solano County is slowly waking up from a hard Covid-19 sleep as unemployment fell from 15.2% in April to 14.2% in May, the Employment Development Department reported Friday.
The number of local jobs climbed to 125,400, a gain of 1,800 over April’s figure, the Labor Market Division of the EDD reported.
However, compared to May 2019, there are 20,200 fewer local jobs, the EDD reported.
One of the more promising figures was that construction added 1,000 jobs since April, now 12,400, though it is down 400 jobs compared to May 2019.
Restaurants also added 1,000 positions, to 8,000. The farm sector added 200 jobs, to 1,500.
The harder reality is being felt in retail, which dropped another 200 jobs to 14,000, the EDD reported.
The civilian labor force in Solano County was reported at 199,800, down from April’s total of 201,500. However, the number of residents employed went up 200 to 171,300, the EDD reported.
The number of residents seeking unemployment benefits in May was 28,400, which is 2,000 fewer than in April.
The state unemployment rate in May was 15.9%, down from 16.2% in April. The rate in May 2019 was 3.6%.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 13%, down from 14.4%. The jobless rate in May 2019 was 3.4%.
Unemployment numbers in Solano County, the state and across the nation saw these improvements as counties across the country began to lift business closures put in place in March to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
Those businesses in Solano County that reopen must maintain health, safety, sanitation and social-distancing protocols designed to slow the spread of the virus. Residents must also comply with an order this week from the governor to wear face coverings in public spaces, businesses and offices – both indoors and outdoors – based on criteria established by the state. Continue reading Solano jobless rate in May: a little better than April, much worse than 2019→
Friday, June 19: 49 new positive cases, no new deaths. Total 860 cases, 23 deaths.
Solano County Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Updates and Resources. Check out basic information in this screenshot. IMPORTANT: The County’s interactive page has more. On the County website, you can hover your mouse over the charts at right for detailed information.
Solano County reported 49 new positive cases today, total of 860 cases.
No new deaths today, total of 23, and no new hospitalizations, total of 98.
Solano reported 29 additional ACTIVE cases today, total 176.
Testing – Solano county reported 1,112 residents were tested since yesterday. (Somewhat strange that NO new tests were reported yesterday – I’m guessing that 1,112 is a 2-day count.)
Youth – 6 new cases today among the 17 and under age group, total 63. There have been 58 new cases among Solano youth in the last 5 weeks, with only 6 new cases over the 5 weeks prior. (More on Solano youth data below.)
BY AGE GROUP
6 new cases today among those 17 and under, total of 63 cases, including one hospitalization. A week ago, there were only 39 cases among this age group – we’ve seen 2 dozen new cases in a week!Our concern is reaching the alarm stage: there have been 52 new cases among those age 17 and under in the last 5 weeks, with only 6 new cases over the 5 weeks prior! Cases among Solano youth have increased in recent weeks to 7.3% of the 860 total confirmed cases. According to the SF Chronicle, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the figure of coronavirus-infected kids younger than 18 at around 4% of those with the disease.” We are nearly double the national rate!
32 new cases today among persons 18-49 years of age, total of 452 cases. The County adjusted its count of hospitalizations among this group, reporting 1 fewer hospitalization today. No new deaths. Total of 26 hospitalized at one time and 2 deaths. This age group now represents 52.6% of the 860 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups. 26 of the 452 cases in this age group have been hospitalized at one time, 5.8% of total cases in the age group.
8 new cases among persons 50-64 years of age, total of 194 cases. No new hospitalizations, no new deaths, total of 31 hospitalized at one time and 3 deaths. This age group represents 22.6% of the 860 total cases. 31 of the 194 cases in this age group have been hospitalized at one time, 16% of total cases in the age group.
3 new cases among persons 65 years or older, total 151 cases, including no new hospitalizations and no new deaths, total of 39 hospitalized at one time and 18 deaths. This age group represents 17.6% of the 860 total cases. 39 of the 151 cases in this age group, 25.8% were hospitalized at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups. And… this group counts for 18 of the 23 deaths, or 78%.
CITY DATA
Vallejoadded 17 new cases today, total of 395.
Fairfield added 18 new cases today, total of 244.
Vacaville added 9 new cases today, total of 109 cases.
Suisun City added 5 new cases today, total of 56 cases.
Benicia remained at 25 cases.
Dixon is reported at 1 fewer case today (??), total of 18 cases.
Rio Vista and “Unincorporated” are still not assigned numerical data: today both remain at <10 (less than 10). The total numbers for other cities add up to 747, leaving 13 cases somewhere among the 2 locations in this “<10” category (one more than last reported). Residents and city officials have pressured County officials for city case counts. Today’s data is welcome, but still incomplete.
TOTAL HOSPITALIZATIONS: 98 of Solano’s 860 cases resulted in hospitalizations since the outbreak started, same as yesterday. Cumulative hospitalizations is a most important stat to watch. On May 1 there were 51 hospitalizations, and the daily increase was relatively steady, adding 2 or less each day. But on May 22, the County reported 4 new hospitalizations, 9 more on May 29, and 3 more on June 2. We are mostly back to 1 or 2 a day lately or even remaining steady. We need to keep our eyes on these numbers.
ACTIVE CASES:176 of the 860 cases are currently active, an increase of 29 over yesterday’s total. Again, this is a something of a mystery to me, given that the County is reporting 49 NEW cases today. 49 NEW cases but only 29 additional ACTIVE cases? I’m sure there’s an explanation, but…. Note that active cases had been trending lower until a steep increase last week and a huge jump this week.(See Solano Health Officer’s explanation for yesterday’s spike.) We were at 72 active cases on May 28; down to 42 on June 8, and bouncing back up to 88 on Friday June 12. Now we’ve seen a 3-day jump to 176…. Below you will see that only 13 of the active cases are currently hospitalized, which leaves 163 of these 176 active cases out in our communities somewhere, and hopefully quarantined.
HOSPITAL IMPACT: The County shows 13 of the 98 hospitalized cases are CURRENTLY hospitalized, same as yesterday. This is perhaps the most important stat to monitor – keep watching this one. The County’s count ofICU beds available and ventilator supply remains at “GOOD” at 31-100%. (No information is given on our supply of test kits, PPE and staff.) TESTING: The County reports that 19,474 residents have been tested as of today, an increase of 1,112 residents tested since yesterday. Yesterday’s increase was reportedly zero – maybe today’s number is actually a 2-day total? Testing has increased by a large degree over the last 2 weeks, and will continue to be a very important way of limiting and tracking outbreaks – please go get a test if you can! Testing sites in Vallejo and Vacaville are open to anyone – see locations below. We still have a long way to go: only 3.1% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.
Solano’s curve – sharp upturn in cumulative cases as of June 19
This chart shows the infection’s steady upward trajectory in Solano County with a sudden jump this week. Our nursing homes, long-term care facilities and jails bear watching, and social distancing is still incredibly important: everyone stay home if you don’t need to go out, wear masks when you do go out (especially in enclosed spaces), wash hands, and be safe!
Vallejo police Chief Shawny Williams issued a special order banning his officers from using a controversial restraint as the department begins to flesh out its use of force and de-escalation police, the department announced Thursday.
Officers can no longer apply a carotid control hold, also known as a vascular neck constraint, while attempting to subdue aggressive or resistant individuals.
“This immediate ban of the carotid control hold is the right thing to do as our department focuses on assessment and reform,” said Williams in a statement released by the department on Thursday. “I also think it’s important for the Vallejo community to know that the carotid control hold is not a stranglehold or a chokehold; those types of holds were never authorized by VPD and do not reflect our values as a department.”
Vallejo Mayor Bob Sampayan took to social media after the news release was issued to register his approval with the decision, saying if the hold isn’t “done correctly (it) could injure a person.”
“This restraint has no place in policing,” he said.
Vallejo’s ban comes two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom told the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to stop teaching the restraint as the hold blocks the flow of blood to the brain.
“We train techniques on strangleholds that put people’s lives at risk,” Newsom said. “That has no place any longer in 21st-century practices and policing.”
The hold requires an officer to place his/her arm on the sides of the person’s neck. As the officer begins to apply pressure, blood flow is blocked in the carotid arteries, causing the person to lose consciousness. Applied too long, the hold can cause serious injury or death.
Williams’ announcement follows the unveiling of a new proposed implementation plan based off a 70-page report by the OIR Group which analyzed the operations, culture and internal review of the department. The consultant made 45 recommendations which focus on three major areas: protecting the community, build trust and communication, and 21st century policing.
Retained last summer, OIR Group received $40,000 to review the department’s officer training, hiring, promotional processes, transparency, community engagement, resource assessment, and internal review of deadly force incidents.
With Father’s Day and summer BBQs coming up, is there a safe way to socialize?
San Francisco Chronicle, by Erin Allday, June 19, 2020
Friends and family socially distance as they party for Addie McLaughlin’s sixth birthday Saturday at Golden Gate Park. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
As the Bay Area emerges from a season of dreary pandemic isolation into an unfairly beautiful June and all the potential of a sun-drenched and hard-earned summer, the temptation is becoming unbearable. People want to go outside, and they want to see each other again.
Father’s Day barbecues, Fourth of July picnics, family reunions in Tahoe, and Stinson Beach weekends with friends are surely starting to make it onto social calendars. But here’s the hard truth: The coronavirus doesn’t care if people are tired of sheltering in place.
Recent surges in cases across the Bay Area already have been tied to social gatherings, first Mother’s Day and then Memorial Day. A few clusters are associated with graduation parties, and public health officials expect to see more in the coming weeks.
“The pace of family gatherings has not slowed down. I think it started on Mother’s Day and it hasn’t stopped,” Bela Matyas, the Solano County health officer, said in a recent interview. “Every weekend we’re having these get-togethers, and seven to 10 days later we start getting the cases.”
California reported a one-day record of new cases this week — more than 4,000 on Wednesday — and it’s impossible to blame that surge on any one factor. The state has dramatically increased testing over the past month and counties have been steadily easing shelter-in-place restrictions, so more people are returning to work and interacting with others.
Plus, thousands of people have joined Black Lives Matter protests that will almost certainly result in some new cases, public health experts have said.
But throughout this pandemic, it’s become clear that the riskiest situations involve close, lengthy contact with others. That’s why clusters often form around people in a shared household. Parties with close friends and family are similarly perilous.
Small social gatherings are allowed, if not necessarily encouraged, as state and local shelter-in-place directives begin to ease up. San Francisco formally permitted them as of Saturday, but only outdoors and in groups of up to 12 people — six if there’s a shared meal.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered guidance last week on how people should come together as the coronavirus continues to circulate. Alameda County earlier this month endorsed “social bubbles” — groups of up to 12 people who may meet outside for friendly hangouts.
Though these gatherings will always come with some risk, public health experts say there are ways to make them safer, and by now most people should be familiar with the advice: Wear face coverings, meet outside instead of inside, keep 6 feet apart, don’t shake hands or hug or kiss, don’t share food or utensils or anything else.
Friends and family socially distance as they gather to celebrate Addie McLaughlin’s sixth birthday. Photo: Jessica Christian / The Chronicle
Charles McLaughlin’s family was abiding by those principles at Golden Gate Park last Saturday, when they gathered with two other families to celebrate his daughter’s sixth birthday. The families spread picnic blankets more than 6 feet apart and brought their own food. Everyone had face coverings.
Even the children were doing their best to maintain social distancing, riding bikes across the grass and chasing each other around a field beside the Conservatory of Flowers.
“We’ve been locked up for a while. It feels good to be outside,” McLaughlin said as Addie, the birthday girl in a pink tutu, took off on her bike. As recently as last month, McLaughlin and his wife had thought that Addie would have to celebrate with just her immediate family, with some friends invited to drive by with their well wishes.
The McLaughlins and another family at the party share a nanny for their four children, but they only started socializing again a couple of weeks ago. It was tough on the children to be separated, said Ryan Keerns, whose two sons are friends with McLaughlin’s daughters.
“The older kids have known each other since they were 6 months old. They have the same nanny, they go to school together,” Keerns said. “To just go cold turkey with not seeing each other is hard.”
But Keerns said they were all cognizant of the hazards of spending time together.
“We’ve stayed in our apartment since the beginning of all this,” he said.
In fact, as infectious disease experts learn more about the new coronavirus, it’s become increasingly obvious that close, extended contact is the most common avenue of transmission — making social gatherings especially risky as people resume some kind of normal life after sheltering in place, public health officials say.
Santa Cruz County reported several clusters of cases tied to Mother’s Day celebrations. Three Bay Area health officers said they saw a notable uptick in local cases after Memorial Day, and some were connected directly to social events that occurred over the holiday.
Earlier, the CDC reported clusters that were associated with funerals and birthday parties.
Those gatherings are sure to happen more often in the coming weeks with summer celebrations on the horizon, public health experts acknowledge. That’s especially true after people have been sheltering in place for three months, and as more of the economy opens up and people begin to venture outside their homes anyway.
“People are just darned tired of being cooped up, locked up in their homes, not being able to go out and see other people,” said Warner Greene, an infectious disease expert with the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. “We are basically social beings.”
Greene and his wife are starting to socialize more, he said. A couple of weeks ago, they organized a weekend retreat with their adult children and the grandchildren. They’re thinking of inviting a pair of friends over for dinner.
He noted that large gatherings are still profoundly unwise. He said he cringed at images of people crowding beaches over Memorial Day and he’s worried about Fourth of July festivities.
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