Monday, July 13: 144 new cases over the weekend, 3 new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 2,219 cases, 31 deaths.

Compare previous report, Friday July 10:Summary

• Solano County reported 144 new cases today, total of 2,219 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 7 days, Solano reported 479 new cases, an average of 68 per day.
• 3 new deaths today, total of 31.
• Hospitalizations – Solano is reporting 7 more currently hospitalized persons over the weekend, for a total of 47.  The County briefly posted the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started  at 118, up 3 since Friday, but a revised dashboard no longer displays this data.
• Active cases – Solano reported 134 fewer (!) ACTIVE cases today, total of 301.  This sudden drop is a turnaround.  The number of Active Cases has been climbing steadily: two weeks ago there were 70 active cases, increasing to a Friday’s record high of 435.  I’m curious how the County explains this drop by almost a third?  Note that only 47 of these 301 active cases are hospitalized; a whole 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 decreased by 6% to 33%.  Ventilators Available remained steady at 86%.
• Testing – A huge number, 3,054 residents were tested over the weekend, total of 38,894.  But we still have a long way to go: only 8.6% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Percent Positive Test Rate

For the first time, Solano County is reporting our 7-day percent positive test rate, at 5.3%.  The dashboard also shows a line graph charting the positive test rate over time (above).  Increasingly, health officials and news reports are focusing on percent positive test rates.  Five Bay Area counties report daily on their seven-day average percent positive test rate, but Solano County has not until today.  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.  LA Times: “California’s positivity rate  today is reported at 8.3%.”  SF Chronicle: “The rate of positive coronavirus tests statewide has increased to 7.4%, a 21% increase over the just past two weeks, Governor Gavin Newsom announced in a press conference Monday. For several months, the rate held steady around 4.9%, but has spiked in the past month.”

By Age Group

• Youth 17 and under – 8 new cases today, total of 210 cases, and no new hospitalizations, total only 2 since the outbreak began.  Two weeks ago, there were only 88 cases among this age group – we’ve seen 122 new cases in just 14 days!  I continue to raise an alarm for Solano’s youth.  Cases among Solano youth have increased in recent weeks to over 9% of the 2,219 total confirmed cases.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 93 new cases today, total of 1,337 cases.  This age group represents 60% of the 2,219 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations and no new deaths among this age group today, total of 29 hospitalized since the outbreak began, and 2 deaths.
• Persons 50-64 years of age – 27 new cases today, total of 429 cases.  This age group represents over 19% of the 2,219 total cases.  No new hospitalizations today, total of 37 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths, total of 3 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – 16 new cases today, total of 242 cases.  This age group represents 11% of the 2,219 total cases.
  3 new hospitalizations, total of 46 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  3 new deaths, total of 26 deaths.  In this older age group, 19% of cases required hospitalization at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  And this group accounts for 26 of the 31 deaths, or 84%.

Incidence Rate: Cases, Hospitalizations, Deaths

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

• • Solano County has 494 positive cases per population of 100,000, up from 462 on Friday (Compare this number with the City incidence rates, below.)
  • 25 Solano hospitalizations per population of 100,000, unchanged since last report.
  • 7 Solano deaths per population of 100,000, up from 6 on Friday.

City Data

• Vallejo added 41 new cases today, total of 747.
• Fairfield added 45 new cases today, total of 765.  Fairfield has seen 276 new cases over the last week, and now has more positive cases than anywhere in Solano County.
• Vacaville added 34 new cases today, total of 354 cases.
• Suisun City added 18 new cases today, total of 160 cases.
• Benicia added 1 new case today, total of 41 cases.  Benicia was extremely stable with only 2 new cases for the entire month of June.  Now Benicia has seen 14 new cases in 14 days.  The numbers are small in comparison to other Solano cities, but something’s definitely going on in Benicia!
• Dixon added 4 new cases today, total of 122 cases.  Dixon has also moved from stable to increasing over this last week.
• Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 22 cases.
• 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.
• A “Rate” column shows the rate of positive COVID-19 cases (per 100,000 population) for each city.  Benicia has the lowest rate, 145 cases per 100,000.  Compare Solano cities’ incidence rates in the chart, and note that the CDC reports today’s rate in California at 811 per 100,000 (climbing fast this past week, and up from 750 Friday).

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, 22% of hospitalizations and 21% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 13% of Solano’s population, and account for 13% of cases, but 27% of hospitalizations, and 32% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 35% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations, and 25% of deaths.
• Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% 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.