Monthly Archives: December 2020

Air Monitoring, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Benicia city staff, Keeping Watch on Earth News

Benicia staff report on air monitoring – to be discussed at January 5 Council meeting

By Roger Straw, December 30, 2020

The City of Benicia released its City Council agenda for January 5, including an important discussion of air monitoring in our refinery town.

Local environmental activists (including me) are hailing this effort on the part of City staff as a show of responsiveness to years of citizen requests for more and better access to real-time air quality information.

Your thoughts are being sought by Benicia elected officials and staff.  Please read the staff report, and plan to attend the zoom Council meeting on January 5.

Staff Report: STATUS UPDATE: Benicia Air Monitoring and Improvements to the City’s Community Emergency Notifications

Agenda: (including instructions for virtual attendance and how to comment) Benicia City Council virtual meeting January 5, AGENDA

Benicia, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Raley's Benicia, Solano County Health Department, Violations of law

Raley’s Benicia under investigation for COVID-19 violations

By Roger Straw, December 30, 2020
Raley’s in Benicia, California

Raley’s facebook page (below) confirms a report that is circulating on social media and among Benicia residents that a serious violation of State and local COVID-19 orders occurred at Raley’s recently.

The images on Raley’s facebook page document a December 24 holiday party of more than two dozen employees, gathered at first in close proximity masked, and then sitting without masks at tables to eat.  [Images preserved here on Google Drive]

City of Benicia officials confirm that they learned of the alleged violation from a private posting on social media, and notified Solano County Health Department.  The Health Department had not been aware, and has initiated an investigation.

The City of Benicia plans to issue a public statement once the allegations are substantiated.  Meanwhile, no hard facts or data has been gathered as to Raley’s employees testing positive, and if so, what exposure and potential spread would require quarantining.  City staff has reached out to Raley’s management for a response.

Stay tuned for more information.  Meanwhile, you might want to think about taking extra precautions if and when you choose to shop at Raley’s.

 

Raley’s Benicia held a large group indoors gathering on Dec. 24, no social distancing, food that required no masks while…

Posted by Benicia Independent on Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

3 more COVID-19 deaths reported in Solano County today

By Roger Straw, December 29, 2020  [Sources: see below.]

Tuesday, December 29: 208 new cases overnight,
3 new deaths.  Since Feb: 18,726 cases, more than 740 hospitalized, 98 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, Dec. 28:Summary

    • Solano County reported 208 new cases overnight.  In just the last 14 days, Solano has seen an increase of 4,819 new cases.  We’re averaging 344 (!) new cases every day! (source: covid19.ca.gov)  Total of 18,726 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – 3 new deaths reported today, one individual aged 50-64 and 2 persons over 65 years of age, a total of 98 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 119 fewer active cases today for a total of 2,008 active cases.  Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 2,008!  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 – 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 reported 1 fewer CURRENTLY hospitalized persons, total of 129.  Among the age groups, the County reported no change in hospitalization numbers, for a total of 744 persons hospitalized since the outbreak began.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.  For COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported an increase in ICU beds available today, rising from only 11% available to 20% available today, still in the YELLOW DANGER ZONE.  COVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano hospitals had 11 available ICU beds as of yesterday, December 28.  (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 a total of 166,165 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  37.1% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.
Positive Test Rate – NEARLY 1 IN 5 ARE TESTING POSITIVE – VIRUS SPREADING IN SOLANO LIKE WILDFIRE

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate today at 18.2%, down from yesterday’s 22.9%, but still 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 an alarming rise lately, up from yesterday’s 11.6% to 12.0% today.  (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 – Continuing the post-Thanksgiving surge in all age groups
  • Youth 17 and under – 14 new cases today, total of 2,091 cases, representing 11.2% of the 18,726 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 since the outbreak began.  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 17 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 104 new cases today, total of 10,662 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents nearly 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 236 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 7 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 – 56 new cases today, total of 3,865 cases.  This age group represents just over 20% of the 18,726 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 204 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  1 new death was reported in this age group today, a total of 17 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 34 new cases today, total of 2,099, representing 10.9% of Solano’s 18,726 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 287 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  2 new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 74 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 98 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 5 new cases today, total of 493 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 7 new cases today, total of 1207 cases.
  • Fairfield added 37 new cases today, total of 5,322 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 156 cases.
  • Suisun City added 9 new cases today, total of 1,304 cases.
  • Vacaville added 109 (!) new cases today, total of 4,697 cases.  Something is happening in Vacaville – stay tuned!
  • Vallejo added 41 new cases today, total of 5,486 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 61 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 20% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 17% of cases, 24% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 29% of cases, 29% 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.

Source
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.