Friday, August 13: Solano County reported 314 new infections over the last 2 days, updated total of 910 active cases, availability of ICU beds and ventilators down dramatically.
Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below. See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
DEATHS: Solano County reported no new deaths today, the total remaining at 254 COVID deaths since the pandemic began.
CASES: The County reported 314 new COVID cases just since Wednesday, 157 per day! CASES-PER DAY TREND: We are clearly experiencing a dramatic “summer surge” in cases. Cases-per-day were trending downward in the Spring, but rose rapidly in July and are extremely high in early August:
ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 910 ACTIVE cases is up from Wednesday’s 754, and nearing our remarkable July 30 high of 972. Active cases are up alarmingly from 212 on July 2, and higher than anything since last February’s surge.
Hospitalizations up again today
CURRENT hospitalizations fell today from 127 to 105 persons.
ICU Beds Available took a dramatic turn for the worse today, falling from 30% to only 20%, in the yellow danger zone and lower than any time since January 29, 2021.
Ventilators Available also fell dramatically today from 74% to only 56%, lower than anytime since February 26, 2021.
TOTAL Hospitalized – The County’s Monday-Friday dashboard shows an intake/discharge total of CURRENTLY hospitalized cases (above), but never reports on the TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic. That total must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of the Hospitalizations by Age Group chart. The County updated its Hospitalizations by Age Group chart today. The County reported 2 new hospitalizations today, 1 person age 50-64, and 1 age 65+. Percentages remain the same. The Age Group chart shows a total of 2,043 persons hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak, in the following age groups:
| Age Group | Hospitalizations | % of Total |
| 0-17 | 36 | 2% |
| 18-49 | 582 | 29% |
| 50-64 | 545 | 27% |
| 65+ | 880 | 43% |
| TOTAL | 2,043 | 100% |
Hospitalizations are also recorded on the County’s demographic chart labeled “Hospitalizations by Race / Ethnicity.” The chart was updated today, adding 2 persons, both White. Here are the current numbers. Interestingly, the total doesn’t square with the total by age groups.
| Race / Ethnicity | Hospitalizations | % of Total |
| Asians | 323 | 17% |
| Black / African American | 332 | 17% |
| Hispanic / Latinx | 552 | 29% |
| White | 626 | 33% |
| Multirace / Others | 84 | 4% |
| TOTAL | 1,917 | 100% |
Face Coverings…
Good news! Benicia Mayor Steve Young and Vice Mayor Tom Campbell are proposing a mandatory face covering policy for Benicia. Benicia City Council will address the matter on Tuesday, August 17. See also California’s recent Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings. The guidelines include a recommendation for universal masking indoors statewide, adding of Adult and Senior Care Facilities to settings where all individuals must wear masks indoors, and a reference to new requirements for unvaccinated workers. Some California cities and counties are returning to mandatory masks for all in crowded places. In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against even RECOMMENDING masks in public indoors spaces. It looks like Dr. Matyas will refuse to make the difficult decisions. Sad – and dangerous!
STUDY SHOWS HIGHER RATE OF “BREAKTHROUGH” CASES AMONG THE VACCINATED – About wearing masks again, Social Distancing & Vaccination…
We heard seriously shocking news on July 29 about the large number of FULLY VACCINATED persons who are catching the virus and actively transmitting it. As the Washington Post reports, “A sobering scientific analysis published Friday found that three-quarters of the people infected during an explosive coronavirus outbreak fueled by the delta variant were fully vaccinated. …vaccinated people can spread the more transmissible variant and may be a factor in the summer surge of infections.”
This is HUGE! We were just beginning to associate more freely with fully vaccinated friends and family, and now we understand that some among us may be asymptomatic and unknowingly transmitting the virus, and inevitably helping spread the disease to someone who knows someone, who knows someone else, who knows yet another someone who is not vaccinated, or who is too young or too health-compromised to be vaccinated – and who may end up seriously ill or even dead! Please mask indoors in public now, and maybe even indoors with vaccinated family and friends! And PLEASE talk to anyone you know who isn’t vaccinated. This thing ain’t over yet!
Cases by City on Friday, August 13:
- Benicia added 14 new cases today, a total of 1,167 cases since the outbreak began, 4.2% of its population of 27,570.
- Dixon added 13 new cases today, total of 2,100 cases, 10.6% of its population of 19,794.
- Fairfield added 103 new cases today, total of 10,237 cases, 8.7% of its population of 117,149.
- Rio Vista added 4 new cases today, total of 462 cases, 4.9% of its population of 9,416.
- Suisun City added 19 new cases today, total of 2,660 cases, 9.0% of its population of 29,447.
- Vacaville added 76 new cases today, a total of 9,840 cases, 10.0% its of population of 98,807.
- Vallejo added 84 new cases today, a total of 11,081 cases, 9.3% of its population of 119,544.
- Unincorporated added 1 new case today, a total of 117 cases (population figures not available).
At next Tuesday’s Council meeting, members will hear a request to implement a face covering mandate for the City of Benicia.
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