Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Solano reports 37 new COVID cases and 2 new hospitalizations

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

Friday, October 23: 37 new cases overnight, no new deaths, 2 new hospitalizations.  Since the outbreak began: 7,286 cases, 423 hospitalized, 74 deaths.Compare previous report, Thursday, Oct. 22:Summary

  • Solano County reported 37 new cases overnight, total of 7,286 cases since the outbreak started.
  • Deaths – no new deaths today, total of 74 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
  • Active cases – Solano reported 18 fewer ACTIVE cases today, total of 306.  Last week, Solano reported over 300 active cases for the first time since September 4, and we’re back to that level again this week.  Yesterday’s total of 324 was the highest since September 3.  Note that only 17 of these 306 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 fell by 1 today, total of 17.  Total hospitalized rose from 421 yesterday to 423 today.  For manual calculation of total, see age group stats below.
  • ICU Beds – the County reported a sharp decrease in ICU beds available yesterday, down from 39% to 29% and displaying in cautionary yellow.  TODAY the rate was back up to 35%.  (Still no information about availability of ventilators.)
  • Testing – The County reports today that 730 more residents were tested overnight, new total of 101,226.  (Solano has AVERAGED 522 tested per day over the last 3 weeks.)  We still have a long way to go; only 22.6% 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 rose today from 4.9% to 5.2%.  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 2.7% to 2.9%.  (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 – 7 new cases today, total of 830 cases, representing 11.4% of the 7,286 total cases.  No new hospitalizations were reported among this age group today.  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 11.4% for the first time this week.  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 7 youth have now been hospitalized.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 20 new cases today, total of 4,327 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization in this young age group today, total of 136 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this 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 – 7 new cases today, total of 1,398 cases.  This age group represents over 19% of the 7,286 total cases. 1 new hospitalization was reported today, total of 116 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 15 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 3 new cases today, total of 729.  This age group’s 729 cases represent 10% of the 7,286 total cases.
    No new hospitalizations were reported today, total of 164.  In this older age group, 22.5% of cases required hospitalization at one time.  No new deaths, total of 54 of our elders who died of COVID.  This group accounts for 54 of the 74 total deaths, or 73%.

City Data

  • Benicia remained steady today, total of 186 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon added 1 new case today, total of 466 cases.
  • Fairfield added 7 new cases today, total of 2,364 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 57 cases.
  • Suisun City added 5 new cases today, total of 532 cases.
  • Vacaville added 14 new cases today, total of 1,284 cases.
  • Vallejo added 10 new cases today, total of 2,374 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 10% 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 28% 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, 26% 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.