Category Archives: Suisun City CA

Solano County remains in red tier again – detailed data sheet

[BenIndy editor: This report does not mention Solano County, but it does provide a link to a fascinating, extensive and detailed spreadsheet:  “updated data from the California Department of Public Health”.  Clearly the State did NOT advance Solano out of the RED tier today.  – R.S.]

Amador County moves to yellow tier; Yolo County advances closer to least restrictive tier

This week Amador, Orange, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties moved to the yellow tier.

ABC10 News, by Chelsea Shannon, May 18, 2021

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As California moves closer to reopening on June 15, five counties have been allowed to loosen their coronavirus restrictions.

This week Amador, Orange, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties moved to the yellow tier, according to updated data from the California Department of Public Health. Tehama also moved to the orange tier in the same update.

As counties move to less restrictive tiers, businesses and activities within those areas can resume operations and allow more people to be inside the business or participate in the activity.

With the most recent data update, five counties saw case rates and positivity rates that put them in a position to move next week if their numbers remain low:

  • Placer County could move to the orange tier.
  • Yolo County to move to the yellow tier.
  • Plumas County to move to the yellow tier.
  • Inyo County to move to the yellow tier.
  • Merced County could move to the orange tier.

Yuba and Tuolumne county were in a position to move to a less restrictive tier last week, but their case rates rose to a point where they were ineligible to move this week.

Counties need to meet the next tiers metrics requirements for two consecutive weeks before moving tiers. There are only three more weeks of tier changes until June 15, when the state plans to retire the tier system. So, there still is enough time for more counties down one more tier before there are no more tiers.

Solano County to stay in red tier, will not move anytime soon

Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties come close to advancing, but miss the cut

Vallejo Times-Herald, By Nico Savidge & Matt O’Donnell, April 20, 2021
Jack Barenchi smiles as he gets a shot of the Moderna vaccine from Registered Nurse Richard Miralles with Kaiser Permanente during the Solano County Public Health COVID-19 vaccinations at the Solano County Fairgrounds. (Chris Riley—Times-Herald)
Jack Barenchi smiles as he gets a shot of the Moderna vaccine from Registered Nurse Richard Miralles with Kaiser Permanente during the Solano County Public Health COVID-19 vaccinations at the Solano County Fairgrounds. (Chris Riley—Times-Herald)

Several Bay Area counties learned Tuesday that they will stay put in the orange tier of California’s system of pandemic restrictions for at least the next two weeks, as the least-restrictive reopening level remains elusive.

Marin County was eligible to advance this week to the yellow tier, which indicates “minimal” coronavirus spread, and would have been the first in the Bay Area to do so this year. But a slight uptick in new cases dashed those hopes.

Data collected by the state that is used to determine tier assignments showed none of the Bay Area’s nine counties — where all are in the orange tier except for Solano County, which is in red — met the criteria to advance Tuesday.

“Solano County will remain in red tier status and we expect to stay in this tier for the near future,” said Jayleen Richards, the public health administrator for Solano County Health & Social Services. “Solano Public Health would like to move to a less restrictive tier, but data is not indicating that we will move to a less restrictive tier soon.”

For the state of California, that doesn’t mean coronavirus is surging again; no county is on pace to move backward into a more-restrictive tier. Instead, the dramatic decline in cases that has unfolded since the state’s devastating winter surge has more or less plateaued for the past month.

The yellow stage allows bars that don’t offer food service to start seating customers indoors at up to 25% capacity, and would bump up capacity limits at other businesses such as bowling alleys, wineries and museums. Outdoor gatherings of up to 100 people are permitted in the tier.

To reach it, counties must have a test positivity rate of less than 2% and report a testing-adjusted rate of less than 2 new cases per 100,000 residents per day.

On Tuesday, state officials reported San Mateo County had a case rate of 2.0, while San Francisco’s stood at 2.2 — the second straight week both counties barely missed out on the yellow tier. Under California’s rules, counties must meet the criteria for a less-restrictive stage for two straight weeks before advancing.

State officials are planning to phase out the four-level reopening plan known as the Blueprint for a Safer Economy in mid-June, when Gov. Gavin Newsom has said he will lift most pandemic restrictions.

Only Lassen, Sierra and Alpine counties, home to less than 35,000 combined residents, have reached the yellow tier.

Starting today, Solano County offers COVID vaccine to residents 16+

County also puts temporary pause on Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Solano County on Facebook, April 14, 2021

Starting today, Solano County is expanding vaccine eligibility to individuals living or working in Solano County who are age 16 and older, in accordance with state guidance to expand eligibility to all Californians in this age group.

After the statement issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommending the administration of Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine be paused temporarily, Solano County is also pausing use of the J&J vaccine at this time.

Until further notice, all vaccine clinics scheduled by the County will be administering the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine. The public is urged to keep their appointments if they have already been scheduled.

“We are pleased to expand eligibility to all community members age 16 and older in Solano County,” said Bela T. Matyas, M.D., M.P.H., Solano County Health Officer. “With the temporary pause in providing the J&J vaccine, appointments for first vaccine doses may continue to be limited. We ask that the public continue to be patient as the pace of administering vaccines depends on supply. In the meantime, please continue to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by maintaining distance from those outside your household, by wearing a mask and by washing your hands often.”

Vaccines, including Johnson & Johnson, have been shown to be overwhelmingly safe and effective at preventing COVID-19. No adverse events have been reported in Solano County following administration of the J&J vaccine. The CDC and FDA’s recommendation to pause administration of the J&J vaccine is made out of an abundance of caution as the investigation is conducted into the six cases of blood clotting recently reported in the United States.

It is important to note that these reactions have been extremely rare, as nearly 7 million people have received the J&J vaccine to date in the United States. The County will continue to monitor the situation and provide additional information to the public as soon as it becomes available.

Vaccinations are no cost and available to all current eligible groups regardless of health insurance or immigration status.

Community members eligible to receive the vaccine are asked to sign up using the state’s vaccine notification and scheduling platform, www.myturn.ca.gov, or through the Solano County COVID-19 Vaccine Interest Form, www.bit.ly/solanovax, to get priority notifications on upcoming COVID-19 vaccine clinics. For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine administration and rollout in Solano County, visit www.solanocounty.com/covidvaccine and on Facebook, @SolanoCountyPH.

Map of California COVID tiers: 3 Bay Area counties moving to orange, Solano stays in red

Contra Costa, Napa and Sonoma are out of the red tier

Mercury News, by Bay Area News Group, PUBLISHED: April 6, 2021 at 12:11 p.m. | UPDATED: April 6, 2021 at 12:31 p.m.

Eighty percent of California’s population is in the orange COVID tier after Tuesday’s reassignment.

Moving from red to orange were 15 counties: Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Mendocino, El Dorado, San Benito, Monterey, Tulare, Ventura, San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego and Imperial.

Moving from purple to red was San Joaquin County.

The looser regulations in those counties will take effect Wednesday.

Only two counties — Merced and Inyo — remain in the purple tier, indicating “widespread” risk. They account for less than 1% of the state’s population.

Thirty-two of the 58 counties, with 80.5% of the population, are in the orange tier (“moderate” risk). Of the Bay Area counties, only Solano hasn’t advanced to that tier.

At a press conference Tuesday morning, state Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly said the tier-based system of COVID-19 restrictions is likely to be discontinued on June 15. The mask mandate is expected to remain in effect after that date, but businesses will probably be allowed to open at full capacity, he said.

Click here for the state’s official COVID website, including details of what activities are allowed in the various tiers.