Coronavirus, Covid 19, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Solano County CA

Solano COVID update: 54 new cases overnight, averaging 39 new cases per day over last 3 weeks

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard.  For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE.]

This thing is far from over…

Tuesday, October 20: 54 new cases overnight, no new deaths, no new hospitalizations.  Since the outbreak began: 7,171 cases, 405 hospitalized, 74 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, Oct. 19:Summary

  • Solano County reported 54 new cases overnight, total of 7,171 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 2 weeks, Solano reported 547 new cases, average of 39 per day (significantly higher than the previous weeks’ daily averages, and climbing).
  • Deaths – no new deaths today, total of 74 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
  • Active cases – Solano reported 14 additional ACTIVE cases today, total of 284.  Last week, Solano reported over 300 active cases for the first time since September 4.  Note that only 26 of these 284 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 offered no reports on contact tracing.
  • Hospitalizations – the number of currently hospitalized persons increased by 2 today, total of 26.  The total number hospitalized since the outbreak started remained steady today, total of 405. (For manual calculation of total, see age group stats below).
  • ICU Beds – the County reported a slight improvement in ICU beds available, up from 38% to 41%.  (Still no information about availability of ventilators.)
  • Testing – The County reports today that 1,018 (!) more residents were tested overnight, new total of 99,232.  (Solano has AVERAGED 500 tested per day over the last 3 weeks.)  Solano has a long way to go; only 22.2% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.  (And even less, considering that some individuals have been tested more than once.)

Positive Test Rate

Solano County reported today that our 7-day average test rate fell today from 6.5% to 6.0%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring the spread of the virus.  The much more stable California 7-day test rate rose slightly today, from 2.4% to 2.5%.  (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 also lags behind current unknown results.) 

By Age Group

  • Youth 17 and under – 6 new cases today, total of 808 cases, representing 11.3% of the 7,171 total cases.  No new hospitalizations among this age group today, a total of 6 hospitalizations 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 plateaued just over 11% since September 30, increasing to 11.3% for the first time Monday 10/19.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: 1) youth numbers increased steadily and at a faster rate than the other age groups, and 2) youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact 6 youth have now been hospitalized.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 24 new cases today, total of 4,262 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents just under 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 131 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young age group today, total of 5 deaths.  Some in this group are surely ignoring public health orders, and many are providing essential services among us.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 16 new cases today, total of 1,381 cases.  This age group represents 19.3% of the 7,171 total cases (up 0.3% suddenly since 10/15, having held steady at around 19.0% for months before then). No new hospitalizations today, total of 109 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 15 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – Today the County reported 5 new cases, total of 715.  No new hospitalizations, total of 159.  No new deaths, total of 54 of our elders who died of COVID.  This age group’s 715 cases represent 10% of the 7,171 total cases.  In this older age group, 22.2% of cases required hospitalization at one time.  This group accounts for 54 of the 74 deaths, or 73%.

City Data

  • Benicia added 2 new cases today, total of 185 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon held steady today, total of 462 cases.
  • Fairfield added 28 new cases today, total of 2,330 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 57 cases.
  • Suisun City added 6 new cases today, total of 522 cases.
  • Vacaville added 11 new cases today, total of 1,244 cases.
  • Vallejo added only 6 new cases today, total of 2,348 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 23 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 9% of cases, 11% of hospitalizations, and 19% 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 29% of cases, 29% of hospitalizations, and 18% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 22% of cases, 27% of hospitalizations and 30% of deaths.

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.