Monthly Archives: July 2020

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Solano coronavirus test positivity rate climbs over 9%, County reports 71 new cases today

Friday, July 17: 71 new cases today, no new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 2,554 cases, 31 deaths.

Compare previous report, Thursday July 15:Summary

  • Solano County reported 71 new cases today, total of 2,554 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 7 days, Solano reported 479 new cases, an average of 68 per day.
  • No new deaths today, total of 31.
  • Hospitalizations – 4 fewer currently hospitalized persons today, total of 51.  The County reports an increase of 3 in the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started, 127.  Not sure how to reconcile current and total hospitalization numbers….  (The County no longer reports Total Hospitalized plainly, but I have added the numbers in the Age Group chart.)
  • Active cases – Solano reported 47 fewer ACTIVE cases today, total of 393.  The number of Active Cases has been climbing steadily in July, increasing from 307 active cases to yesterday’s record high of 440.  Note that only 51 of these 393 active cases are hospitalized; a lot of infected people are out among us, hopefully quarantined.  One wonders… is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?
  • ICU beds Available remained steady at 39%.  Ventilators Available also remained steady at 90%.
  • Testing – 798 residents were tested since yesterday, total of 41,498.  But we still have a long way to go: only 9% 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 at 9.1%.  Over this first week of reporting positive test data, Solano’s rate has increased each day: 5.3% on Monday, then 6.7%, 7.3%, 8.4%, and finishing out the week today at 9.1%.  This is definitely not a good trend.  In addition to daily figures, the dashboard shows a line graph charting the positive test rate over time. The dramatic daily increases this week will begin to show on the 7-day average line sometime next week.  CONTEXT: Increasingly, health officials and news reports are focusing on percent positive test rates.  Most Bay Area counties report daily on their seven-day average percent positive test rate, but Solano County did not until Monday.  This information is immediately important, as test positivity is one of the best metrics for measuring the spread of the virus.  Positive test rates in California and other southwestern states have been on the rise.  California’s positivity rate today is reported at 7.1%.

By Age Group

  • Youth 17 and under – 6 new cases today, total of 243 cases, and no new hospitalizations, total only 2 since the outbreak began.  A week ago, there were only 202 cases among this age group – we’ve seen 41 new cases in just 7 days!  I continue to raise an alarm for Solano’s youth.  Cases among Solano youth have increased in recent weeks to 9.5% of the 2,554 total confirmed cases.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 45 new cases today, total of 1,548 cases.  This age group represents over 60% of the 2,554 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization and no new deaths among this age group today, total of 33 hospitalized since the outbreak began, and 2 deaths.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 15 new cases today, total of 494 cases.  This age group represents over 19% of the 2,554 total cases.  2 new hospitalizations today, total of 41 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths, total of 3 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 5 new cases today, total of 268 cases.  This age group represents 10.5% of the 2,554 total cases. No new hospitalizations, total of 51 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths, total of 26 deaths.  In this older age group, just under 19% of cases required hospitalization at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  This group accounts for 26 of the 31 deaths, or 84%.

Incidence Rate: Cases, Hospitalizations, Deaths

On the Race/Ethnicity chart and the Age Group chart there are “Rate” tabs.  Today’s report shows:

  • Solano County has 568 positive cases per population of 100,000, up from 552 yesterday and 462 last Friday (Compare this number with the City incidence rates, below.)
  • 28 Solano hospitalizations per population of 100,000, about the same as yesterday.
  • 7 Solano deaths per population of 100,000, unchanged since yesterday.

City Data

  • Benicia added 3 new cases today, total of 55 cases.  Benicia was extremely stable with only 2 new cases for the entire month of June.  Now Benicia has seen 15 new cases in 7 days.
  • Dixon added 2 new cases today, total of 135 cases.
  • Fairfield added 28 new cases today, total of 881.  Fairfield has more positive cases than anywhere in Solano County.
  • Rio Vista added 0 new cases today, total of 23 cases.
  • Suisun City added 8 new cases today, total of 193 cases.
  • Vacaville added 10 new cases today, total of 420 cases.
  • Vallejo added 20 new cases today, total of 839.
  • Unincorporated areas – Although the County still still shows Unincorporated at <10 (less than 10), a little math tells the story: Solano’s unincorporated areas remained steady at 8 cases, those unaccounted for in the other City totals.

Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity data 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 22% of cases, 23% of hospitalizations and 21% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 27% of hospitalizations, and 32% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 34% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations, and 25% of deaths.
  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 9% of cases and 14% of hospitalizations, but 18% 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.

Benicia School Board, Benicia Unified School District, BUSD Superintendent Charles Young, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Re-opening

Benicia Schools to begin school year in all virtual learning mode

Superintendent Charles Young: Start of School Update 7-17-2020

Jul 17, 2020 | BUSD Latest News, BUSD nCoV

Dear Benicia Community,

On behalf of the Board Trustees and myself, we hope this communication finds you healthy and safe during this challenging and ever changing time in our society due to Covid-19.  The complexity and unpredictability of this pandemic is calling upon all of us to be flexible and responsive in our decision making in order to protect and preserve the health and safety of those we serve.

With that said the Benicia Unified School District will begin the school year in an all virtual learning model.  We intend to work in the virtual learning model for the first quarter of the year. To remain responsive, we will review the status of our virtual learning model at each Board meeting throughout the first quarter.

While we intended to make this decision at our July 23rd Special Board meeting, the rate of case increase in our community, information gathered from our workforce and families, and uneven guidance being shared at the state and local level have compelled us to move up our decision making timeline.  On July 23rd we will instead focus on the details of the virtual learning model and the hybrid learning model that we intend to move into when we can safely move forward.

We know for some of you, this decision might come as a relief and for others, it will cause further challenges.  We all want students back in school, there is no disagreement there, but we must do so through exercising an abundance of caution. We are also reviewing the status of our childcare program to determine if we can safely expand capacity to support more of our families.

If you are not able to watch the Board meeting of July 23rd, please know the meetings are recorded and posted on our website for your convenience.  We will also put together a summary of key points and make that available to you in a Superintendent update..

Thank you so much for being patient, supportive and committed to the safety and well being of everyone in our community.  The Board and I wish there were easier answers to all of this but unfortunately, there are not. For now, we believe this is the most prudent course of action for the start of our school year together.

Charles F. Young, Ed.D.
Superintendent

Mark Maselli
Board Trustee

Diane B. Ferrucci
Board President

Sheri Zada
Board Trustee

Stacy Heldman-Holguin, Ed.D.
Board Clerk

Gethsamane Moss, Ed.D.
Board Trustee

California Governor Gavin Newsom, California schools, Controlled shutdown, Coronavirus, Covid 19

Solano County schools ordered to stay closed this fall

Gov. Newsom orders California schools on watch list stay closed

SFGate, by Amy Graff, July 17, 2020
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Press Conference, July 17, 2020

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Friday press briefing that schools in counties on the  watch list for more than 14 days open with distance learning. Counties would need to meet strict criteria for schools to offer in-class instruction.

This marks a change in what Newsom has said in the past with the state initially giving school districts the flexibility to reopen on their own timelines in consultation with local public health officials.

Newsom also said the new reopening guidelines for schools require teachers and students in third grade and above to wear masks. There’s also a new requirement to keep students six-feet-apart.

More than half of the state’s 58 counties are on the watch list including seven Bay Area counties — Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Santa Clara,  Solano  and Sonoma. Being on the list puts restrictions on the ability to reopen various segments of the economy.

The California Department of Public Health created the watch list to monitor counties that experience significant changes in COVID-19 infection rates, an increase in hospitalizations, outbreaks in congregate settings or a rise in community transmission at workplaces. Counties on the list are working with the state to identify the causes for any worrisome trends and next steps to mitigate the virus spread. The watch list is constantly changing based the latest data available from public health departments.

Several school districts have already said their schools will begin the new term virtually, including Los Angeles and San Diego, the state’s two largest, with a combined population of 720,000 K-12 students.

San Francisco Unified School District announced this week fall semester classes will begin August 17 via distance learning exclusively.

The news, sent in a letter by Superintendent Dr. Vincent Matthews, notes that the district eventually hopes to implement a “hybrid approach” to learning. This involves a combination of in-person classroom learning and virtual instruction, but only “when science and data suggest it is safe to do so.”

Administrators intend to release a plan detailing ways in which virtual learning can be improved in a meeting with the San Francisco Board of Education on July 28 at 3 p.m. The “most essential details” will be shared with parents the following day.

Oakland, Sacramento, Long Beach, Santa Ana and San Bernardino are among the other districts opting not to immediately return to classrooms.

Some districts have said they aim to open with hybrid models. The Palo Alto Unified School District recently approved a plan for distancing learning for high school and middle school students and a return to classrooms for elementary school students. The Alum Rock district in San Jose said 90% of students will continue with online school while 10% will come to class. Students in foster care and with disabilities will be prioritized for on-site school.

The decisions were made amid growing concern by teachers and parents over the state’s surge of coronavirus cases and uncertainty surrounding the safety of both students and staff on campuses. The state this week reported its second-highest one-day totals in infection rates and deaths since the start of the pandemic and more than 7,200 have died.

Many small, rural communities argue they shouldn’t have to comply with the same rules as big cities where infection rates are higher. Thurmond indicated Wednesday that he agreed.

“We have some counties in this state where the number of cases is actually quite low,” Thurmond said. As long as schools in those counties follow state guidance on hand washing, six feet (1.8 meters) of spacing, maintaining physical distance and face coverings, Thurmond said, “we believe that those schools can open safely.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.
#BlackLivesMatter, Benicia Police Chief Erik Upson, Black Lives Matter, Implicit bias, Racial profiling, Racism

Benicia Police Chief Erik Upson in conversation with local seniors group

“Culture Trumps Everything” says Benicia Police Chief

Benicia Herald, by Lois Requist, July 17, 2020

Carquinez Village invited Benicia Police Chief Erik Upson to speak to the community via Zoom last Monday. I’m using today’s column to report on that meeting.

Chief Upson began with a national perspective, saying that national standards for policing on testing, hiring, ongoing training, etc. don’t exist. Contrary to other occupations, a podiatrist, for example, for which national standards exist, the consumer can rely on a podiatrist anywhere in the nation having similar training.

Chief Erik Upson

The chief’s philosophy is that “culture is most important.” Even if a police agency has good guidelines written down, bad things can happen, depending on the culture. Egregious events such as happened in Minneapolis can occur if the culture doesn’t reflect the written policy. More about this later.

Chief Upson said his philosophy is “We’re neighbors. We care about the whole community.” He went on to say that he tries to follow a policy of being a great human being. Caring about other people. When he interviews a candidate to work in his department, he goes out to coffee with them, to try to get a sense of the person. He talked about the “golden shovel” award, which is about “recognizing and rewarding officers for exemplifying our culture, going out of their way to do something that benefits the community though it might not fit in the more accepted perception of what policing is about. Caring about people as people and manifesting a true sense of caring about humanity.” Upson understands the need to respect everyone and learn to recognize our own implicit bias, something we all have, but aren’t always aware of.

Chief Upson was asked if blacks, even blacks who live in Benicia, are stopped more frequently than whites. Of course, he’s aware of racial profiling, but he wouldn’t want that to happen here. He’s been Benicia’s Police Chief for five years, so he has hired most of the police force. He tries to weed out people who don’t fit with his philosophy.

In New York, a young white woman called the police on a black man who was bird watching, saying he had threatened her. Since the incident was recorded, it was easy to see that wasn’t the case. He’d asked her to put her dog on leash. Upson has a policy that, if someone calls and complains about another person, but doesn’t indicate that the other person has committed or is committing a crime, the police may not follow up on the call.

He was asked about the possibility of having town hall meetings here, as some other communities have, to discuss racial inequities; he thought that a good idea. Schools also came up in a question to the chief. He said that two officers work with the schools, endeavoring to have good relationships with the children and the staff.

One person asked the chief about the release of 8,000 prisoners in California due to outbreaks of the Corona Virus in prisons. Upson said they get a list of anyone being released who has ties to Solano County. They would check out the situation if appropriate. He pointed out that many people being released are older people over 65, who were scheduled to be released in 90-120 days.

Another person asked about handling of homeless people. Approximately 40 people are identified as homeless in Benicia. Working with the county, Benicia police try to help by getting these folks into shelters, and offering other mitigations, as appropriate.

Upson has been a police officer for 30 years and has never shot anyone, though he certainly recognizes the need for officers to carry guns, reminding us there are 250-300 million guns in the country and a good number of people quite willing to use them.

He was also asked about crime during these times of COVID-19. He said there is an increase in property crime—stealing of cars and damaging property, not breaking into homes, as most people are at home now. “There is also an uptick in domestic violence,” according to the chief.

He was also asked what “taking the knee” means to him. He said it’s a “demonstration of caring.” Some people, when hearing the slogan “black lives matter” ask “don’t all lives matter?” Upson remarked that “when a house is on fire” you turn your attention to that. It doesn’t mean that other houses (or lives) are any less valued.

I mentioned earlier about Chief Upson’s approach that “culture trumps everything.” So, I asked the chief how the culture can be changed. He answered that it takes time, modeling good behavior, and leadership.

In terms of implicit bias, he said the department has made a Public Service Announcement (PSA), and he is aware of the concept of “restorative justice.” In that regard, I’d like to add a link here of an article I’ve read on that subject.

He urged us to ask if we have needs or questions, and I think that applies to the entire community. Chief Upson was approachable, direct, and honest about the situations the department faces and his philosophy about the best ways to handle whatever comes up. I was pleased to spend the hour in conversation with him. I should also point out, that on the city’s website there’s much more information about the police.