[For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE – R.S.]

Thursday, August 20: 63 new cases today, no new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 5,006 cases, 44 deaths.Compare previous report, Friday August 19:Summary

• Solano County reported 63 new cases today, total of 5,006 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 2 weeks, Solano reported 1,047 new cases, an average of 75 per day.  Solano report its 5,000th COVID infection today.
• Deaths – no new deaths today, total of 44 Solano deaths.  (The deceased person reported yesterday was listed in the age range 18-49, but today there is 1 fewer death in that age range, and 1 more in the 65+ age range – evidently an error correction.)
• Active cases – Solano reported 48 (!) additional ACTIVE cases today, total of 395.  Nearing 400 active cases, it is noteworthy that Solano had over 400 cases on only 3 previous occasions, July 9, 10 and 16.  Note that only 39 of these 395 people are hospitalized, so there are a lot of infected folks out among us, hopefully quarantined.  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?
• Hospitalizations – the number of currently hospitalized persons remained steady today at 39.  The total number hospitalized since the outbreak started also remained steady, total of 277, although a likely error correction resulted in 1 fewer hospitalization among the 18-49 age group and 1 more among the 65+ age group.  (Note that the County no longer reports Total Hospitalized, but we can add the new hospitalization numbers in the Age Group report – see below.)  For a fourth week now, the County offers no information about availability of ICU beds and ventilators.
• Testing – The County reports today that 277 more residents were tested, new total of 67,448.  Only twice in July-August were fewer tested in one day.  The drop is no doubt due to nearby wildfires and resulting hazardous air quality.  Solano has a long way to go: only 15% 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 rose again today, from 6.4% to 6.9%, up from 4.1% last week.  The County’s 7-day test rate peaked at 9.3% on July 22.  Health officials and news reports focus on percent positive test rates as one of the best metrics for measuring the spread of the virus.  The California 7-day rate was reported today at 6.6%, up from 6.3% yesterday.  (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity curve chart 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 also lags behind current unknown results.) 

By Age Group

• Youth 17 and under – 8 new cases today, total of 523 cases.  No new hospitalizations among this age group, a total of 5 hospitalizations since the outbreak began, but notably, 3 in this past week.  Thankfully, no deaths.  It is clear that our young people are catching the disease, with a recent increase in hospitalizations.  It seems too many youth are ignoring public health orders.  Cases among Solano youth are 10.4% of the 5,006 total confirmed cases.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 40 new cases today, total of 3,054 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents over 61% of the 5,006 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 87 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  The County reported no new deaths among this age group today, total of 4 deaths.  This 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 – 9 new cases today, total of 956 cases.  This age group represents just over 19% of the 5,006 total cases.  Strangely, the County reported 1 fewer hospitalization and 1 fewer death among this age group today.  This is no doubt an error correction, given that 1 new death is reported among the 65+ age group while total of all deaths remained at 44.  Total of 77 hospitalized since the outbreak began and total of 4 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – 6 new cases today, total of 472 cases.  This age group represents 9.4% of the 5,006 total cases.
  1 new hospitalization today, total of 108 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  In this older age group, 23% of cases required hospitalization at one time, up from 17% last Friday.  This is a much higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  As noted above, 1 new death was reported in this age group today, probably an error correction, total of 36 deaths.  This group accounts for 36 of the 43 deaths, or 84%.

City Data

• Benicia added 2 new cases today, total of 120 cases since the outbreak began.
• Dixon added 3 new cases today, total of 343 cases.
• Fairfield added 27 new cases today, total of 1,588.
• Rio Vista remained steady today,, total of 36 cases.
• Suisun City added 3 new cases today, total of 361 cases.
• Vacaville added 12 new cases today, total of 857 cases.
• Vallejo added 16 new cases today, total of 1,684 cases.
• Unincorporated areas – Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 17 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, 21% of hospitalizations and 23% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 19% of hospitalizations, and 25% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 26% of cases, 32% of hospitalizations, and 28% of deaths.
• Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 9% of cases and 11% 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.