Monthly Archives: December 2020

California, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Coronavirus, Covid 19

California Covid-19 Update: Governor Gavin Newsom Orders 5,000 Body Bags, Refrigerated Units For Coroners As State Prepares For Surge In Deaths

California has refrigerators, body bags on standby as vaccine finally arrives

ABC7 News, by Alix Martichoux, December 15, 2020
(Click the image to go to ABC7 news video with 2:33 minute commercial…)

There may be light at the end of the tunnel, Gov. Gavin Newsom acknowledged Tuesday, but it’s a very, very dark tunnel.

California has placed an order for 5,000 additional body bags and has 60 53-foot refrigerators on standby at hospitals around the state. This comes as daily coronavirus deaths are four times higher than they were one month ago.

“We’re going through perhaps the most intense and urgent moment since the beginning of this pandemic,” Newsom said.  (See full length Newsom news conference on Youtube video.)

To combat this third and biggest surge of COVID-19, California is establishing medical overflow facilities and upping intensive care staffing.

The first 33,150 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have arrived in California and more are on the way this week, Newsom said. If the Moderna vaccine is authorized, Newsom anticipates the state will receive 2.1 million doses of both vaccines by the end of the month.

The first phase of vaccinations (called Phase 1A) includes health care workers and residents at long-term care settings, which is a population of about 3 million people. Phase 1B is a larger group of people, about 8 million Californians, and includes farm workers, grocery workers and teachers. Who among those 8 million is next in line is actively being discussed by the state, Newsom said.

It’s been “a very optimistic 48 hours,” the governor said, however the arrival of the vaccine is too little too late to help combat this winter surge of cases and hospitalizations.

The state saw 32,326 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours and intensive care units are starting to become overloaded.

As a region’s ICU capacity drops below 15%, it is required to implement a stay-at-home order.

The latest ICU capacity by region is:

  •  Bay Area: 15.8% 
  • Greater Sacramento: 14.9%
  • Northern California: 29.8%
  • San Joaquin Valley: 1.6%
  • Southern California: 1.7%
Here is Governor Newsom’s 1-hour 20-minute news conference on 12/15/20:

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Exploding numbers of new COVID cases in Benicia, Dixon, Fairfield, Suisun, Vacaville and Vallejo

1,001 new cases in Solano County over the weekend; record number of ACTIVE cases nearing 2,000; ICU Beds down to 16% available.  The virus is spreading here, especially among those 18-49 years of age.

By Roger Straw, December 14, 2020  [Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today, around 8pm).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.]

Monday, December 14: 1,001 new cases over the weekend, no new deaths.  Since Feb: 13,734 cases, more than 600 hospitalized, 91 deaths.Compare previous report, Friday, Dec. 11:Summary

    • Solano County reported 1,001 (!!) new cases over the weekend.  As of today, Solano has seen an average increase of 206 (!) new cases per day over the last 14 days! (source: covid19.ca.gov)  Total of 13,734 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 91 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 325 (!) more active cases today, a total of 1,857 active cases – breaking Solano’s previous record high by more than 300 active cases.  The County has hit a new record high in 6 of the last 11 days!  Active cases soaring: COMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 1,857!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – (For COVID19-CA.GOV info, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.)  CAUTION ON SOLANO HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County “occasionally” updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Today, Solano County reported the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized persons increased by 22, total of 104.  But TOTAL hospitalized among age groups has not been updated since since November 30 when a total of 603 of all ages had been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Hopefully the County will update these figures at a later date.  [For my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported only 16% of our ICU beds available today, deep in the yellow danger zone, and the lowest we’ve seen in this county.  COVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano hospitals were down to only 8 available ICU beds as of yesterday, December 13.  (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
    • Testing – The County reports today that 3,511 residents were tested over the weekend, a total of 147,550 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  33.0% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate – RECORD HIGH of 19%

Solano County reported another record high 7-day average positive test rate today of 19,0%, up from Friday’s 14.5% and far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on the rise lately, up slightly today from 10.5 to 10.6%.  (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group
  • Youth 17 and under – 84 (!) new cases today, total of 1,534 cases, representing 11.2% of the 13,734 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age group.  But cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 584 (!!) new cases today, total of 8,045 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents just under 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 194 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 230 (!) new cases today, total of 2,721 cases.  This age group represents nearly 20% of the 13,734 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 162 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 16 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 103 (!) new cases today, total of 1,426, representing 10.4% of Solano’s 13,734 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 233 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 69 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 91 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 37 (!) new cases today, total of 374 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 45 (!) new cases today, total of 963 cases.
  • Fairfield added 277 (!) new cases today, total of 4,059 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 4 new cases today, total of 112 cases.
  • Suisun City added 74 (!) new cases today, total of 958 cases.
  • Vacaville added 303 (!) new cases today, total of 2,999 cases.
  • Vallejo added 254 (!) new cases today, total of 4,219 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 7 (!) new cases today, total of 50 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 22% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 22% of cases, 26% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 27% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s 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 significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19.CA.GOV, ICU, Intensive Care Units (ICUs), Solano County CA

Solano County: only 8 ICU beds available as of Sunday December 13

Latest numbers from COVID19.CA.GOV

COVID19.CA.GOV is the only WEEKEND source of information on the coronavirus in Solano County.  The hospitalization details ON THE MAP below are current as of now, and are automatically updated here on the Benicia Independent with each new day’s report from CA.GOV.

For the record, COVID-19 Hospital Data as of Sunday Dec. 13:

Positive Patients 103
Suspected Patients 10
ICU Positive Patients 29
ICU Suspected Patients 1
ICU Available Beds 8

Hover your mouse over items below to see detailed data, including numbers on a given date.

Napa-Solano Central Labor Council, Vallejo Education Association

Vallejo Education Association “outs” Jon Riley and quits the right-wing Labor Council

Vallejo Times Herald, Letters, December 13, 2020

A matter of values

On Nov. 12 at our representative council, the Vallejo Education Association unanimously voted to leave the Napa Solano Labor Council effective immediately. This was not an easy decision — we have collaborated on many projects and campaigns in the past but we have come to determine that the NSCLC no longer shares our values. Our values, as stated by the California Teachers’ Association Mission Statement, are “to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education for all students; to ensure that the human dignity and civil rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society.

Over the past few years, the VEA and the NSCLC and its executive director did not see eye to eye on many issues, including supporting politicians that advocate for charter schools, pushing to endorse a candidate who stated they would cross a union picket line, the use of misogynistic and homophobic language by its executive director, condoning attacks on the Black Lives Matter movement by member institutions and seeking to discipline those who criticized police and fire unions when they publicly and privately attacked our CTA members who ran for public office along with many other issues.

Although we have parted from the Napa Solano Labor Council, the Vallejo Education Association remains committed to supporting and engaging its members on issues of social justice and improving the lives of our students and teachers, as our students’ learning conditions are our working conditions. We will welcome partnerships and collaborations with any institutions that remain committed to improving quality public education for our students.

Steven Quinlan
Former Trustee, Napa Solano Labor Council
Political Action Chair Vallejo Education Association