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

Friday, September 11: 15 new cases today, no new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 5,820 cases, 48 deaths.Compare previous report, Thursday, Sept 10:Summary

• Solano County reported 15 new cases overnight, total of 5,820 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 2 weeks, Solano reported 432 new cases, an average of 31 per day.
• Deaths – no new deaths today, total of 48 Solano deaths.
• Active cases – Solano reported 32 fewer ACTIVE cases today, total of 195.  Note that only 23 of these 195 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?  To my knowledge, Solano County has no reporting on contact tracing.
• Hospitalizations – the number of currently hospitalized persons included 2 fewer individuals today, total of 23.  The total number hospitalized since the outbreak started increased by 3 today, total of 290.
• ICU Beds –The County reported 43% of ICU beds available, down from 62.2% available yesterday.  Something volatile is going on in this reporting.  Yesterday, beds available were up 17% from the day before.  One wonders what is going on here.  (Still after 6 weeks, no information about availability of ventilators.)
• Testing – The County reports today that 570 more residents were tested today, new total of 80,083.  Solano has a long way to go: only 17.9% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate – VERY LOW AGAIN

Solano County reported today that our 7-day average test rate remained very low today at 2.7%, following a DRAMATIC drop yesterday, when it fell from 5.2% to 2.8%.  Yesterday’s single-day dip struck me as unlikely. 7-day averages don’t normally jump like this – they are designed to “smooth out” the volatility of a daily data chart.  If these low rates can be believed, Solano’s test rate has fallen below the state of California’s rate for the first time.  Last week we saw Solano rates above 7% for the first time since we peaked at 9.3% on July 22.  The County reported a 7-day test rate low of 4.1% on August 11, with the rate peaking 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 test rate rose slightly today from 3.5% to 3.7%.  (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 – 2 new case today, total of 639 cases, representing 11% of the 5,820 total cases.  No new hospitalizations among this age group, a total of 5 hospitalizations since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths.  In recent weeks it seems too many youth are ignoring public health orders.  Cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% since last week.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is: 1) that youth numbers are increasing steadily and at a faster rate than the other age groups, and 2) that youth are seriously NOT immune – in fact 5 youth have been hospitalized.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 9 new cases today, total of 3,522 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 60.5% of the 5,820 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization in this age group today, total of 94 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths among this age group today, total of 4 deaths.  Some in this group 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 – 3 new cases today, total of 1,109 cases.  This age group represents 19% of the 5,820 total cases.
  1 new hospitalization today, total of 78 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths  in this age group today, a total of 7 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – 1 new case today, total of 548 cases, representing 9.4% of the 5,820 total cases.  1 new hospitalization today, total of 113 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  In this older age group, 20.6% of cases required hospitalization at one time.  This is a much higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  No new deaths in this age group today, total of 37 deaths.  This group accounts for 37 of the 48 deaths, or 77%.

City Data

• Benicia added 1 new case today, total of 142 cases since the outbreak began.
• Dixon added 1 new case today, total of 396 cases.
• Fairfield added 5 new cases today, total of 1,898.
• Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 38 cases.
• Suisun City added 1 new case today, total of 419 cases.
• Vacaville added 3 new cases today, total of 983 cases.
• Vallejo added 4 new cases today, total of 1,926 cases.
• Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 18 cases.

Cases, Hospitalizations & Deaths by Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  Today I am again returning to the summary chart featuring all of these.  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 Latinex members of our communities.

• Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 9% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 20% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 18% of hospitalizations, and 24% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 32% of cases, 33% of hospitalizations, and 26% of deaths.
• White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 20% of cases, 21% of hospitalizations and 20% of deaths.

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.