Tag Archives: COVID-19 Purple Tier

Counties see alarming infection rates – Solano would be in purple if tiers were still used

Northern California counties, including Solano, have new alarming infection rates

If tier system in place, at least a dozen would be in purple

Northern California counties, including Solano, have new alarming infection rates

Vallejo Times-Herald, by John Woolfolk & Harriet Rowan, July 20, 2021

How bad is California’s Delta COVID-19 surge?

If the Golden State was still using its four-color reopening blueprint for ranking counties by infection rates, at least a dozen, including Los Angeles, Alameda, Contra Costa and Solano now would be in the most-restrictive purple tier, and many businesses would not be fully open.

And that’s using new metrics introduced in March that made it easier for counties with higher case rates to move into lower-restriction tiers once the state reached what it considered equitable vaccination rates. Using the state’s original tier definitions, 29 counties, including San Francisco, now would be purple, which meant that the virus was widespread, a Bay Area News Group analysis found.

This map is interactive at TimesHeraldOnline.com.

The dire picture comes a little over a month since California authorities on June 15 dropped the reopening blueprint and its color-coded restrictions on gatherings and business activities and eased requirements for face masks in public to slow the virus’ spread. Since then, sports venues, bars and amusement parks have fully reopened, and people throughout the state gathered for July Fourth barbecues and parties.

“We’ve all forgotten about the tier system because we wanted to,” said Dr. John Swartzberg, clinical professor emeritus of infectious diseases and vaccinology at UC Berkeley’s school of public health. “We’re not in a very good place compared to where we were a month ago.”

California was one of the slowest states to reopen its economy during the pandemic and has one of the highest vaccination rates, especially among large states, with almost 52% of its population fully inoculated against the virus compared with 56% in New York, nearly 48% in Florida and 43% in Texas.

But like much of the United States, California is seeing rapid spread of COVID-19 driven by the highly infectious Delta variant, nearly all of it among those who haven’t been vaccinated.

On Monday, Napa, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties became the latest to urge people who are both vaccinated and unvaccinated to wear masks while indoors in public places to slow the virus’ spread, joining most other Bay Area counties as well as Sacramento, Fresno and Yolo. Los Angeles made that an order Saturday.

According to the California Department of Public Health, the virus is spreading statewide at a 7-day average daily rate of 6.3 cases per 100,000 people among the unvaccinated, but at a rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people among the vaccinated. The department did not have those figures by county.

“Vaccines remain the best protection against COVID-19, including the highly infectious Delta variant,” the CDPH said in a statement Friday. “As we continue to see the real and aggressive impact of the Delta variant in rising case rates, we cannot stress enough how critical it is for eligible individuals to get vaccinated.”

California introduced its color-coded reopening blueprint last August amid a summer surge in cases after the state eased its March 2020 stay-home order to curb the coronavirus.

Under the original blueprint, counties in which the 7-day average of daily COVID-19 cases was 7 per 100,000 people or more were assigned the most restrictive purple tier.

At those rates, middle and high schools, and at some levels even elementary schools, couldn’t begin opening campuses to students. Bars were closed, and restaurants, theaters and gyms could only operate outdoors, where the virus doesn’t easily spread.

The blueprint allowed for progressively more gatherings and activities once counties’ case rates fell, putting them into the “substantial” red, “moderate” orange and “minimal” yellow tiers.

At the January peak of California’s deadly winter COVID-19 case spike, all but four rural counties were in the purple tier.

In March, as vaccines became more widely available and more people were getting the shots, state officials revised the tier metrics to account for the protection offered by immunization, making it easier for counties with high vaccination rates to move out of the restrictive tiers and reopen more businesses. Under the revised rules, the purple tier applied to counties with 7-day average daily case rates of 10 per 100,000 people or more.

On June 15, when the state ended its tier system, no California counties remained in the purple tier, and just one was in the red, while 29 were in the yellow tier.

The breathtaking pace of the virus’ resurgence already has led many local health authorities to at least recommend measures such as wearing masks indoors in public for all, vaccinated or not. But state officials for now have not changed their guidance, including allowing the vaccinated to go without masks inside.

Swartzberg noted that given how low infections had fallen since the spring, the sharp rise in new case rates still involves relatively small numbers. Statewide, the 7-day average daily case rate as of Sunday was 7 per 100,000 people, up significantly from 2 per 100,000 in early June but far lower than the 109.3 per 100,000 Jan. 9. And hospitalizations and deaths, which tend to lag new cases by a few weeks, remain on a downward slope. The 7-day average daily death rate as of Sunday was 0.01 per 100,000, down from 1.7 per 100,000 Jan. 9.

But given the Delta variant’s high transmissibility and rapid spread, even in the highly vaccinated Bay Area where many people continue wearing masks, new restrictions may be in order.

“The Delta variant’s transmissibility is so much greater than anything we’ve encountered,” Swartzberg said. “I think the Bay Area was wise in recommending masks indoors for everyone. If things continue on the trajectory we’re seeing, the Bay Area will probably have to mandate it and hope it’s sufficient to flatten the curve.”

COVID still here in Solano County: 41 new cases and 1 new death reported today


By Roger Straw, Thursday, May 13, 2021

Solano reports 41 new cases today and 1 new death.  Stay safe, remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Thursday, May 13.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 13, Solano County reported 41 new COVID cases.  Our hearts go out to those 41 and their families and friends.  RECENTLY: We saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 13 days of May, Solano reported 476 new cases, an average of 37 per day.  Reports are that our red-tier Solano County will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.

We learned of 1 new death today, a person over 65 years of age.  Solano’s Active cases rose today from 236 to 296.  Our percent positivity rate rose today, our 10th day in a row over 7%, and remains high at 7.4%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly
Percent of today’s new cases, age groups, May 13, 2021
Date New Cases
0-17 years
New Cases
18-49 years
New Cases
50-64 years
New Cases
65+ years
TOTAL
13-May 9 18 10 4 41
13-May 22% 44% 24% 10% 100%

Compare TODAY (above) with percentages since LAST SUMMER (below).  Note especially children and youth 0-17 years:

Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 13, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17
Cases
% 18-49
Cases
% 50-64
Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/13/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – no new information today…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (16 today – 3 more than yesterday).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group.  See Solano Dashboard DEMOGRAPHICS TAB for details.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated this week.  Monday the County reported 3 new hospitalizations since early April, and added another 6 on Tuesday.  The 2-day increase of 9 includes 1 person age 18-49, 1 person 50-64 and 7 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 13
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17
Hospitalizations
Age 18-49
Hospitalizations
Age 50-64
Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324     332     598

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Thursday, May 13:

  • Benicia added 4 cases today, total of 983 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon added 2 cases today, total of 1,898 cases.
  • Fairfield added 17 new cases today, total of 8,960 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 4 new cases today, total of 2,262 cases.
  • Vacaville added 9 new cases today, total of 8,606 cases.
  • Vallejo added only 5 new cases today, total of 9,771 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.
City Manager Upson reports on COVID in Benicia
Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

Benicia City Manager Erik Upson reported on COVID in this week’s City of Benicia newsletter.  Benicia, he wrote, is “second in the County for highest level of vaccination at 73.9% (just behind Rio Vista at 74.8%) and have the lowest incident rate at at .035 (Solano County average is double that at .07). There are many factors that go into those numbers, but I believe part of it is our City’s approach to making it our top priority and our community’s willingness to step forward and set the example. Great job Benicia! If you’re looking for a vaccine, click here to find upcoming clinics.”  [More]

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Wednesday, May 12:


The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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 SummaryDemographics and Vaccines.  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.


Sources

Solano County COVID report: 32 new cases today


By Roger Straw, Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Solano reports 32 new cases today.  Stay safe, remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Wednesday, May 12.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 12, Solano County reported 32 new COVID cases.  Our hearts go out to those 32 and their families and friends.  PROGRESS: we saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 7 days of May, Solano reported 275 new cases, an average of 39 per day.  Reports are that our red-tier Solano County will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.  Solano’s Active cases fell today from 249 to 236.  Our percent positivity rate rose a bit, and remains high at 7.1%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly. Note especially children and youth 0-17 and young adults age 18-49.
Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 12, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17
Cases
% 18-49
Cases
% 50-64
Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/12/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – no new information today…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (16 today – 3 more than yesterday).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group, May 11, 2021. Click image for larger view.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated this week.  Monday the County reported 3 new hospitalizations since early April, and added another 6 on Tuesday.  The 2-day increase of 9 includes 1 person age 18-49, 1 person 50-64 and 7 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 12
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17
Hospitalizations
Age 18-49
Hospitalizations
Age 50-64
Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324     332     598

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Wednesday, May 12:

  • Benicia added 1 case today, total of 979 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon added 5 cases today, total of 1,896 cases.
  • Fairfield added 7 new cases today, total of 8,943 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 4 new cases today, total of 2,258 cases.
  • Vacaville added 10 new cases today, total of 8,597 cases.
  • Vallejo added only 5 new cases today, total of 9,766 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.
City Manager Upson reports on COVID in Benicia
Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

Benicia City Manager Erik Upson reported on COVID in this week’s City of Benicia newsletter.  Benicia, he wrote, is “second in the County for highest level of vaccination at 73.9% (just behind Rio Vista at 74.8%) and have the lowest incident rate at at .035 (Solano County average is double that at .07). There are many factors that go into those numbers, but I believe part of it is our City’s approach to making it our top priority and our community’s willingness to step forward and set the example. Great job Benicia! If you’re looking for a vaccine, click here to find upcoming clinics.”  [More]

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Tuesday, May 11:


The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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 SummaryDemographics and Vaccines.  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.


Sources

Solano COVID hospitalization numbers and report of Benicia City Manager Erik Upson


By Roger Straw, Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Solano reports only 16 new cases today, and now reports 9 who were hospitalized at some time since early April.  Stay safe!  Remember: People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems

Solano County COVID report on Tuesday, May 11.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

On May 11, Solano County reported only 16 new COVID cases, the smallest single-day increase since September 11, 2020.  This is encouraging, but our hearts go out to those 16 and their families and friends.  PROGRESS: we saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 7 days of May, Solano reported 275 new cases, an average of 39 per day.  Reports are that Solano will not be joining all other Bay Area counties in opening to less restrictive tiers anytime soon.  Solano’s Active cases fell today from 297 to 249.  Our percent positivity rate fell a bit, but remains high at 7.0%.  We have not seen rates this high since Feb. 22.

Cases among children and youth have increased alarmingly
Percent of today’s new cases, age groups, May 11, 2021
New Cases
0-17 years
New Cases
18-49 years
New Cases
50-64 years
New Cases
65+ years
TOTAL New Cases Today
4 10 4 -2 16
25% 63% 25% -13% 100%

Compare TODAY (above) with percentages since LAST SUMMER (below).  Note especially children and youth 0-17 and young adults age 18-49.  (And don’t ask me to explain the two fewer seniors in today’s Solano dashboard, above.  ????)

Percent of  ALL CASES SINCE JUNE 2020, age groups as of May 7, 2021
Date Cases
% 0-17
Cases
% 18-49
Cases
% 50-64
Cases
% 65+
6/5/20 5.8% 45.2% 25.6% 23.3%
7/1/20 9.0% 57.5% 20.1% 13.4%
8/31/20 11.0% 60.6% 19.2% 9.2%
5/11/21 12.2% 55.4% 20.5% 11.8%
Hospitalizations – new information…

The Solano County COVID dashboard Summary tab only shows active hospitalizations for the current day (16 today – 3 more than yesterday).  This number represents the total currently hospitalized after yesterday’s admissions and discharges.  Little can be learned from this about the accumulated total of hospitalizations since the outbreak began.

Solano County Hospitalizations by Age Group, May 11, 2021. Click image for larger view.

But on the Demographics tab of the County dashboard, the County “occasionally” updates the accumulated total of hospitalizations by age group.  These numbers had not been updated since early April, but were updated yesterday and again today.  Yesterday the County reported 3 new hospitalizations since early April, and added another 6 today.  The 2-day increase of 9 includes 1 person age 18-49, 1 person 50-64 and 7 persons age 65+.   Looks like hospitalizations are dramatically DOWN.  We’ll keep an eye on this for more “occasional” updates.

Solano County Total COVID Hospitalizations by AGE GROUPS as of May 11
Hospitalizations
Age 0-17
Hospitalizations
Age 18-49
Hospitalizations
Age 50-64
Hospitalizations
Age 65+
    26     324     332 (adding 1)     598 (adding 5)

>> The virus is still on the move here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask and social distance!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Tuesday, May 11:

  • Benicia remained steady today, total of 978 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia averaged 2 cases/day in April.
  • Dixon remained steady today, total of 1,891 cases.
  • Fairfield added 4 new cases today, total of 8,936 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 370 cases.
  • Suisun City added 2 new cases today, total of 2,254 cases.
  • Vacaville added 2 new cases today, total of 8,587 cases.
  • Vallejo added 8 new cases today, total of 9,761 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.
City Manager Upson reports on COVID in Benicia
Benicia City Manager Erik Upson

Benicia City Manager Erik Upson reported on COVID in his weekly newsletter today.  Benicia, he wrote, is “second in the County for highest level of vaccination at 73.9% (just behind Rio Vista at 74.8%) and have the lowest incident rate at at .035 (Solano County average is double that at .07). There are many factors that go into those numbers, but I believe part of it is our City’s approach to making it our top priority and our community’s willingness to step forward and set the example. Great job Benicia! If you’re looking for a vaccine, click here to find upcoming clinics.”  [More]

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Monday, May 10:


The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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 SummaryDemographics and Vaccines.  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.


Sources