[Note that Solano County publishes a DAILY update, and displays past weeks and months in epidemic curve charts.  However, the curve charts do not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  This methodology is accurate in a way, but it misleads the public by consistently displaying a recent downward curve which is often corrected upward on a later date. For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE – R.S.]

Tuesday, August 11: 64 new cases today, no new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 4,338 cases, 41 deaths.
Compare previous report, Monday August 10:Summary

• Solano County reported 64 new cases today, total of 4,338 cases since the outbreak started.  Last week, Solano reported 532 new cases, an average of 76 per day.  Nearly sustaining that rate over 2 weeks: 950 cases total, 68 per day.
• Deaths – no new deaths today, total of 41 deaths.
• Active cases – Solano reported 5 more ACTIVE cases today, total of 221.  Note that only 37 of these 221 people are hospitalized, so there are a lot of infected folks out among us, hopefully quarantined.  I’ve been wondering for several weeks now… is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who will research this?  (See SF Chronicle report on contact tracing in Bay Area – “Solano County did not respond”.)
• Hospitalizations –7 more currently hospitalized persons today, total of 37.  However, the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started remained steady, total of 175.  (The County no longer reports Total Hospitalized, but I can add the new hospitalization numbers in the Age Group report – see below.)  Again now for a third week, the County offers no information about availability of ICU beds and ventilators.
• Testing – The County reports today that 1,631 more residents were tested, new total of 59,454.  We still have a long way to go: only 13% 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 fell from 5.7% yesterday to 4.1 today.  VERY GOOD NEWS – this is the lowest it has been since the County began publicly reporting test rates on July 13. (Note that the graphic chart may be misleading – see NOTE at top of this page.)  The County posted a high of 9.3% on July 22.  CONTEXT: Health officials and news reports focus on percent positive test rates as one of the best metrics for measuring the spread of the virus.  Due to issues with the state’s electronic laboratory reporting system, reporting on the statewide 7-day positivity rate shows an underreporting of actual positive cases.  That said, the State rate has been falling, and is reported at 6.2% today.

By Age Group

• Youth 17 and under – 4 new cases today, total of 433 cases. No new hospitalizations, only 2 hospitalizations since the outbreak began, and no deaths.  It is clear that youth are catching the disease, and it seems too many youth are ignoring public health orders.  Cases among Solano youth have increased to slightly over 10% of the 4,338 total confirmed cases.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 37 new cases today, total of 2,657 cases.  This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents over 61% of the 4,338 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 48 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths among this age group, total of 3 deaths.  This young to middle age group is very active.  Some are surely ignoring public health orders, and many are providing essential services among us.  I expect his group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
• Persons 50-64 years of age – 18 new cases today, total of 829 cases.  This age group represents 19% of the 4,338 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 55 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths among this age group, total of 4 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – 5 new cases today, total of 418 cases.  This age group represents 9.6% of the 4,338 total cases.  No new hospitalizations today, total of 70 hospitalized since the outbreak began.   No new deaths in this age group today, total of 34.  In this older age group, almost 17% of cases required hospitalization at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  This group accounts for 34 of the 41 deaths, or 83%.

City Data

• Benicia added 2 new case today, total of 99 cases.
• Dixon added 9 new cases today, total of 268 cases.
• Fairfield added 20 new cases today, total of 1,394.
• Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 32 cases.
• Suisun City added 2 new cases today, total of 321 cases.
• Vacaville added 8 new cases today, total of 742 cases.
• Vallejo added 22 new cases today, total of 1,467 cases.
• Unincorporated areas – Unincorporated areas added 1 new cases today, total of 15 cases.

Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity 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 24% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 13% of cases, but 22% of hospitalizations, and 27% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 27% of cases, 32% of hospitalizations, and 24% of deaths.
• Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases and 13% of hospitalizations, but 16% 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.