Tag Archives: Hospitalizations

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA

Uptick in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Solano County, 2 youth hospitalized

[Note that Solano County publishes a DAILY update, and displays past weeks and months in epidemic curve charts.  However, the curve charts do not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  This methodology is accurate in a way, but it misleads the public by consistently displaying a recent downward curve which is often corrected upward on a later date. For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE – R.S.]

Thursday, August 13: 120 new cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 4,534 cases, 41 deaths.
Compare previous report, Wednesday Aug. 12:

Summary

  • Solano County reported 120 new cases today, total of 4,534 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 7 days, Solano reported 575 new cases, an average of 82 per day.
  • Deaths – no new deaths today, total of 41 deaths.
  • Active cases – Solano reported 84 more ACTIVE cases today, total of 315, back to mid-July levels.  Note that only 37 of these 315 people are hospitalized, so there are a lot of infected folks out among us, hopefully quarantined.  I’ve been wondering for several weeks now… is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who will research this?  (See SF Chronicle report on contact tracing in Bay Area – “Solano County did not respond”.)
  • Hospitalizations – the number of currently hospitalized persons increased by 1 today, total of 38.  However, the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started increased significantly, adding 19, total of 195.  Seemingly, 19 were admitted and 18 were discharged?  (The County no longer reports Total Hospitalized, but I can add the new hospitalization numbers in the Age Group report – see below.)  Again now for a third week, the County offers no information about availability of ICU beds and ventilators.
  • Testing – The County reports today that 1,612 more residents were tested, new total of 61,870.  We still have a long way to go: only 13.8% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Percent Positive Test Rate

Solano County reported today’s 7-day percent positive test rate rose from 4.1% Tuesday to 4.4% Wednesday and to 5.4% today.  Solano had never registered below 5% since the County began publicly reporting test rates on July 13. (Note that the positive test rate graphic chart may be misleading – see NOTE at top of this page.)  The County posted a high of 9.3% on July 22.  CONTEXT: Health officials and news reports focus on percent positive test rates as one of the best metrics for measuring the spread of the virus.  The California 7-day rate was reported today at 6.7%.

By Age Group

  • Youth 17 and under – an uptick of 15 new cases today, total of 456 cases. AND… for the first time since July 6, Solano County is reporting new hospitalizations among this very young age group: 2 new hospitalizations, a total of 4 hospitalizations since the outbreak began.  Still thankfully, no deaths.  It is clear that our young people are catching the disease, some have required hospitalization, and it seems too many youth are ignoring public health orders.  Cases among Solano youth are 10% of the 4,534 total confirmed cases.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 73 new cases today, total of 2,776 cases.  This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents over 61% of the 4,534 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 9 new hospitalizations in this age group today, the highest single-day increase so far, now totaling 57 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths among this age group, total of 3 deaths.  This young to middle age group is very active.  Some are surely ignoring public health orders, and many are providing essential services among us.  I expect his group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 23 new cases today, total of 866 cases.  This age group represents 19% of the 4,534 total cases.  The County reported 2 new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 57 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths among this age group, total of 4 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 9 new cases today, total of 435 cases.  This age group represents 9.6% of the 4,534 total cases.  6 new hospitalizations today, total of 77 hospitalized since the outbreak began.   No new deaths in this age group today, total of 34.  In this older age group, almost 18% of cases required hospitalization at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  This group accounts for 34 of the 41 deaths, or 83%.

City Data

  • Benicia added 4 new cases today, total of 108 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon added 17 new cases today, total of 296 cases.
  • Fairfield added 26 new cases today, total of 1,436.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 32 cases.
  • Suisun City added 5 new cases today, total of 330 cases.
  • Vacaville added 25 new cases today, total of 777 cases.
  • Vallejo added 43 (!) new cases today, total of 1,539 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas – Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 16 cases.

Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  There are also tabs showing a calculated rate per 100,000 by race/ethnicity for each of these boxes.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  As of today:

  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 21% of cases, 24% of hospitalizations and 24% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 13% of cases, but 20% of hospitalizations, and 27% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 27% of cases, 33% of hospitalizations, and 24% of deaths.
  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 9% of cases and 13% of hospitalizations, but 16% of deaths.

Much more…

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

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA

90-year old Fairfield man Solano County’s latest COVID-19 death

Solano placed on state’s Covid watch list as hospitalizations rise

Fairfield Daily Republic, by Todd R. Hansen, June 30, 2020
Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County Health Officer

FAIRFIELD — A local man in his 90s became the 24th person to die in Solano County because of Covid-19, the Public Health Division reported on Monday.

He contracted the disease from his family, Dr. Bela Matyas, the county public health officer, said in a phone interview.

“It’s not linked to any of the outbreaks in the county,”said Matyas, adding the man had been in the hospital for nearly a month.

Solano also became the 16th county to be placed on the state’s watch list because of a jump in hospitalizations, which if prolonged, could mean the forced closure of bars.

The county reported a jump of 13 hospitalizations since Friday afternoon’s report, bringing the total to 38.

The number of new cases, however, only went up by eight to 1,116, despite testing numbers going up by 2,504 to 29,620, the county reported. The number of active cases also saw a significant decrease from 250 to 70.

“Most of those cases are from the past and we finally caught up to them,” said Matyas, explaining that many are from the 80 or so farm laborers who work in the Sonoma and Napa vineyards, but spread the disease primarily because of their close living conditions in Fairfield and Dixon.

Graduation parties and Memorial Day weekend activities were also primary causes to why the active case numbers climbed, and now that those infectious periods are over and the county reporting has caught up, the numbers fell.

Matyas remains concerned about another spike because of the Fourth of July weekend.

And that could have a significant impact on Solano bars.

While Matyas said there is a “disconnect” between bar patronage and the actual cause of Covid-19 cases in Solano – again, due mostly to family gatherings – he understands why Gov. Gavin Newsom has to send some kind of message to county residents to ease their social practices.

Matyas said if the numbers continue to linger at the higher level, or go up over a three-day period, then the state will issue a recommendation that the bars be closed.

If the trend continues for 14 days, the state will order the bars closed, Matyas said.

Of the eight new cases reported, three were in Fairfield, bringing the city’s count to 363. Vallejo added two more to take its total to 462, and Vacaville also had two more cases for a tally of 152. The final new case was reported in Dixon, which now has 39 confirmed cases.

Suisun City (70), Benicia (25) and the combination of Rio Vista and the unincorporated area of the county (15) stayed the same.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA

KQED: Solano County on State’s COVID-19 Watch List after Spike in Hospitalizations

[Editor: See July 1 update: Solano County among 19 California counties ordered to close bars, indoors restaurant seating and more.  – R.S.]
KQED Coronavirus Updates, June 29, 2020

A recent increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations has landed Solano County on the state of California’s list for “targeted engagement,” to slow further spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Monday.

While cases of the coronavirus and hospitalizations are on the rise throughout California, the state is zeroing in on counties experiencing the most acute spikes.

“Being on the county monitoring list brings with it additional attention and focus, additional assistance, some additional resources at the state level,” said Mark Ghaly, secretary of California’s Health and Human Services Agency.

Ghaly hopes the designation “really galvanizes the response at the county level in order to … make sure that spread does not increase so rapidly.”

Nineteen counties have been placed under increased monitoring by the state, covering nearly three quarters of California’s population. On Monday, Glenn, Merced and Orange counties were added along with Solano.

In Solano County, hospitals have seen a 23% increase in their three-day average of COVID-19 patients. The spike has been attributed in part to a jump in infections among dozens of North Bay farmworkers, many of whom work in Napa and Sonoma, but reside in Solano County.

State and county health officials have identified a list of steps to improve virus mitigation, including working with vineyard management companies to implement physical distancing measures and enlisting Spanish interpreters to educate workers on public health guidelines.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Coronavirus, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA

Solano County details from Gov. Newsom’s Watch List, June 29 2020

By Roger Straw, June 30, 2020
See July 1 update: Solano County among 19 California counties ordered to close bars, indoors restaurant seating and more. 

First below is an excerpt from the CA Dept. of Public Health’s Watch List, detailing recent increasing hospitalizations in Solano County and “key action steps” that Solano is taking in coordination with the State.

Below that is a detail from the State’s County Data Chart, showing Solano County among those counties with increasing hospitalization rate of >10%.  On June 29, Solano shows a 23% increase in 3-day avg COVID+ hospitalized patients.

[See also coverage in the SF Chronicle: Coronavirus cases climb, Bay Area counties pause reopening. Also on KQED: Solano County on State’s COVID-19 Watch List after Spike in Hospitalizations.]

County Data Monitoring

Step 2: Targeted Engagement with CDPH
County Data Chart
California Department of Public Health, June 29, 2020

Solano County (has variance) is increasing hospitalization. Drivers include a large outbreak among farm workers in the vineyards in Sonoma and Napa who are residing in Solano, as well as an ongoing surge in cases related to family gatherings and other social gatherings on the weekends.  The farm worker cases total many dozens over the past one to two weeks, and the close-contact cases appear to have begun with weekend activities in early May and are continuing to the present.  The large number of such cases overall is resulting in an increase in hospitalized cases.  These cases are not at present resulting in a strain on the hospitals or in ICU admissions but the county is monitoring this closely.  County reports that hospitals in their jurisdiction have multiple levels of surge capacity for hospitalizations and for ICU admissions, if these become necessary. Key action steps include: working with the neighboring counties and with the vineyard management companies to implement social distancing measures; 2) educating the workers themselves (using Spanish interpreters) on social distancing measures; 3) providing appropriate cautionary messages through social media and the press about the risks of gatherings, not social distancing and not using personal protection measures.

County Data Monitoring

County Data Chart
June 29, 2020

Elevated Disease Transmission Increasing Hospitalization Limited Hospital Capacity
Threshold <150 Case Rate >100
OR
Case Rate >25 AND Positivity >8%		 >10% Increase <20% ICU Beds Available
OR
<25% Ventilators Available
County Avg # tests per day (per 100,000 population) (7 day average with a 7 day lag) Case rate per 100,000 (14 days) Testing positivity (%) (7 day average with a 7 day lag) % Change in 3-day avg COVID+ hospitalized patients % ICU beds currently available % Ventilators currently available
Solano 185.4  ✔ ✔ 23.5 ✔ ✔