By Roger Straw, Monday, February 8, 2021

Over 100 of us each day… and that’s an improvement!  COVID is still spreading and dangerous in Solano County – stay safe!

Monday, February 8: 308 new Solano cases over the weekend, no new deaths.  Since February 2020: 28,994 cases, over 845 hospitalized, 134 deaths.Compare previous report, Friday, February 5:Summary

• • CASES – Solano County reported 308 new cases over the weekend, just over 100 per day, a total of 28,994 cases since the outbreak started.  In the month of January, Solano added 8,495 new cases, for an average of 274 new cases per day.
  • DEATHS – the County reported no new deaths over the weekend, a total of 134 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.  12 new COVID deaths were reported in the first 4 days of February, and in the month of January, Solano recorded 24 coronavirus deaths.  While many other COVID stats are improving, the recent surge in deaths is no doubt the final sad result of our holiday surge.
  • ACTIVE cases – Solano reported 202 fewer active cases today, a total of 899 active cases.  Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650, in December 1,658, in January 2,185 – and TODAY we are back down to 899.  Better, but still, is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  My guess is we just sit back and wait for a voluntary 10 day quarantine to expire.  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
  • HOSPITALIZATIONS – (See expanding ICU capacity and ventilator availability below.)  Today, Solano reported 8 fewer currently hospitalized cases, total of 89.  However, in the number of hospitalizations among age groups, the county reported an increase of 5 new hospitalizations, all over age 65, for a total of 849 hospitalized in all age groups since the pandemic began.) Even then, accuracy cannot be certain – note>>  In a Dec. 31 Fairfield Daily Republic article, reporter Todd Hanson wrote, “Since the start of the pandemic, and as of Wednesday, 9,486 residents have been hospitalized.”  This startling number is far and away above the number of residents hospitalized as indicated in the County’s count of age group hospitalizations, and not available anywhere on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard.  Asked about his source, Hanson replied that Solano Public Health “had to do a little research on my behalf.”  It would be good if the County could add Total Hospitalized to its daily Dashboard update.  [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 – In late January, Solano hospitals expanded their ICU capacity [see BenIndy, Jan. 25]  Even with the expanded ICU capacity, Solano County remained in the YELLOW DANGER ZONE until today’s encouraging GREEN ZONE report.  The County reported 34% available today, up from 28% Friday.  The State’s COVID19-CA.GOV reports that Solano County had 16 AVAILABLE ICU BEDS as of yesterday, February 7.  (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.)
  • VENTILATORS available – Today Solano hospitals have 55% of ventilators available, down from Friday’s 62% and down substantially from last summer’s reports of 82-94% available.

Positive Test Rate – SOLANO TEST RATE MUCH IMPROVED BUT STILL HIGH, 9.6% – VIRUS STILL SPREADING, STAY SAFE!

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate of 9.6%, down encouragingly from Friday’s 12.2%, but still above 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.  COMPARE: The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was 5.0% today, down from Friday’s 5.8%.  (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 – 54 new cases over the weekend, total of 3,363 cases, representing 11.6% of the 28,994 total cases.  No new hospitalizations were reported today among this age group, total of 18 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 remained at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 18 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 162 new cases over the weekend, total of 16,013 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 55.2% 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 243 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 9 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 – 60 new cases over the weekend, total of 6,071 cases.  This age group represents 20.9% of the 28,994 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 230 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 21 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – 32 new cases over the weekend, total of 3,536, representing 12.2% of Solano’s 28,994 total cases.  The County reported 5 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today, a total of 358 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were  reported in this age group today.  A total of 104 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 78% of Solano’s 134 total deaths.

City Data

• Benicia added 6 new cases over the weekend, total of 825 cases since the outbreak began.
• Dixon added 6 new case over the weekend, total of 1,699 cases.
• Fairfield added 62 new cases over the weekend, total of 7,906 cases.
• Rio Vista added 13 new case over the weekend, total of 291 cases.
• Suisun City added 34 new case over the weekend, total of 1,959 cases.
• Vacaville added 92 new cases over the weekend, total of 7,678 cases.
• Vallejo added 95 new cases over the weekend, total of 8,550 cases.
• Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 86 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 12% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 22% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 13% of cases, 21% of hospitalizations, and 13% of deaths.
• Multi-race / Others are 7% of Solano’s population, but account for 35% of cases, 18% of hospitalizations, and 12% of deaths.
• White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 29% of cases, 31% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.

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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.

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