All posts by Roger Straw

Editor, owner, publisher of The Benicia Independent

Solano County reconfigures COVID-19 age-group data, reports 1 new senior death


Friday, June 5: 1 new positive case, 1 new death. Total now 566 cases, 23 deaths.

Source: Solano County Coronavirus Information & Resources

Solano County Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Updates and Resources.  Check out basic information in this screenshot.  IMPORTANT: The County’s interactive page has more.  On the County website, you can hover your mouse over the charts at right for detailed information.
Previous report, Thursday, June 4
The County does not archive its dashboard.  Archives here: BenIndy’s Daily Count Archive.

Summary

  • Solano County reported 1 new positive case today, total of 566.
  • 1 new death today, total of 23.
  • Active cases – 2 fewer than yesterday, 61 active cases..
  • Very little testing – reporting only 47 residents tested.
  • Youth – With today’s report, Solano County introduces a new way of listing cases by age group.  Previously, we saw 3 age groups: 0-18, 19-64 and 65+.  Today we see 4 groups: 0-17, 18-49, 50-64 and 65+.  Although the additional age breaks are interesting and perhaps even helpful, we can no longer continue to track the upward trend among those 18 and under as we have been doing since May 4.  Note that the new 17 and under age group shows 2 fewer cases today, indicating that 2 young people were actually 18 years old, now included in the 18-50 group.  Anyway, reducing the count by 2, it is still noteworthy that there have been 28 new cases among those age 17 and under in the last 23 days, with only 6 new cases over the 5 weeks prior.  (See table below).

BY AGE GROUP
(IMPORTANT TO NOTE that today, the GREEN bar in the County’s chart no longer represents “Non-severe” cases.  Rather, it represents the TOTAL of all cases: non-severe cases, those hospitalized and deceased persons.)

Yesterday:Today:

  • Today the County is showing 2 fewer cases in the youngest age group, redefining that group as those 17 and under (rather than 18 and under), total of 33 cases, including one hospitalization.  Our concern remains: cases among youth have increased over the last two weeks to 6% of the 566 total confirmed cases.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age total 256 cases, including 22 hospitalized and 2 deaths.  This age group represents 45% of the 566 total cases.   22 of the 256 cases in this age group have been hospitalized at one time, almost 9% of total cases in the age group(It is unclear whether the 2 deaths were ever hospitalized.)
  • Persons 50-64 years of age total 145 cases, including 28 hospitalized and 3 deaths.  This age group represents 26% of the 566 total cases.   28 of the 145 cases in this age group have been hospitalized at one time, a little over 19% of total cases in the age group(It is unclear whether the 3 deaths were ever hospitalized.)
  • Persons 65 years or older total 132 cases, including 38 hospitalized and 18 deaths.  This age group represents just over 23% of the 566 total cases.  1 new death, total of 18.  38 of the 132 cases in this age group (29%) were hospitalized at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups(It is unclear whether the 18 deaths in this age group were ever hospitalized.)

CITY DATA

  • Vallejo reported no new cases for the second day in a row today, remaining at a total of 310.
  • Fairfield added 1 new case today, total of 121.
  • Vacaville remained at 60 cases.
  • Suisun City remained at 31 cases.
  • Benicia remained at 23 cases.
  • Dixon remained at 11 cases.
  • Rio Vista and “Unincorporated” are still not assigned numerical data: today both remain at <10 (less than 10).  The total numbers for other cities add up to 556, leaving 10 cases somewhere among the 2 locations in this “<10” category (same as last reported)Residents and city officials have pressured County officials for city case counts.  Today’s data is welcome, but still incomplete.

HOSPITALIZATIONS:  89 of Solano’s 566 cases resulted in hospitalizations since the outbreak started, 1 more than yesterdayCumulative hospitalizations is a most important stat to watch.  On May 1 there were 51 hospitalizations, and the daily increase was relatively steady, adding 2 or less each day until a little over a week ago.  On May 22, the County reported 4 new hospitalizations, on May 29 an additional 9, 3 more on June 2 and another 1 today.  The County has seen 18 additional hospitalizations in just 14 days.  Stay tuned!

ACTIVE CASES:  61 of the 566 cases are currently active, 2 fewer than yesterday.  Note that the county does not report WHERE the active cases are.  Below you will see that only 13 of the active cases are currently hospitalized, which leaves 48 of these 61 active cases out in our communities somewhere, and hopefully quarantined.

HOSPITAL IMPACT: The County shows 13 of the 89 hospitalized cases are CURRENTLY hospitalized, 2 more than yesterday.  The County’s count of ICU beds available and ventilator supply remains at “GOOD” at 31-100%. (No information is given on our supply of test kits, PPE and staff.).
TESTING: The County reports that 13,141 residents have been tested as of today, an increase of only 47 residents tested since yesterday.  Earlier this week, over 500 residents were tested on each of two consecutive days.  Not sure why the slow-down, but it’s disappointing.  We have a long way to go: only 2.9% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.  NOTE: State run testing sites in Vallejo and Vacaville are open to anyone.

Solano’s curve – cumulative cases as of June 5

This chart shows that the infection’s steady upward trajectory could be flattening a bit in Solano County.  Still too early to tell.  Our nursing homes, long-term care facilities and jails bear watching!

Still incredibly important – everyone stay home if you don’t need to go out, wear masks when you do go out (especially in enclosed spaces), wash hands, and be safe!

Gov. Newsom orders California police to stop using “carotid hold,”and launches Police Reform Task Force

Gov. Newsom Press Release, June 5, 2020

Governor Newsom Announces New Policing and Criminal Justice Reforms


Announcements follow week of conversations with community leaders, activists and law enforcement following killing of George Floyd and demonstrations across the nation

SACRAMENTO – After a week of engagement with civic leaders and law enforcement in the wake of the killing of George Floyd and demonstrations nationwide, Governor Newsom today announced his support for new policing and criminal justice reforms. Governor Newsom will work toward a statewide standard for policing peaceful protests and ending the carotid hold. This announcement follows the work California did last year to enact the nation’s strongest standard for police use of deadly force.

“We have a unique and special responsibility here in California to meet this historic moment head-on,” said Governor Newsom. “We will not sit back passively as a state. I am proud that California has advanced a new conversation about broader criminal justice reform, but we have an extraordinary amount of work left to do to manifest a cultural change and a deeper understanding of what it is that we’re working to advance. We will continue to lead in a direction that does justice to the message heard all across this state and nation.”

Governor Newsom today called for the creation of new standards for crowd control and use of force in protests. Governor Newsom committed to working with the Legislature, including the California Legislative Black Caucus, the California Latino Legislative Caucus and other legislative leaders, in consultation with national experts, community leaders, law enforcement and journalists to develop those standards – much like the collaboration that produced AB 392 last year, California’s nation-leading use-of-force bill.

Additionally, he called for the end of the carotid hold and other like techniques in California, directing that the carotid hold be removed from the state police training program and state training materials. He committed to working with the Legislature on a statewide ban that would apply to all police forces across the state.

Criminal justice reform has been a key priority of Governor Newsom’s first year in office. He placed a moratorium on the death penalty, citing racial and economic disparities in how it was applied. He proposed to close the Division of Juvenile Justice and proposed closing two state prisons. In his May Revision budget, Governor Newsom proposed expanding opportunities for rehabilitation and shortening prison time for offenders participating in treatment programs, in education programs and otherwise engaging in good behavior; as well as increasing access to higher education for young people who are incarcerated.

Governor Newsom acknowledged today that more action is needed, and stated that additional reforms around police practices, educational equity, economic justice, health equity and more must be addressed with urgency.

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Comparing Solano to neighboring counties: COVID-19 Cases, Deaths and Fatality Rate

By Roger Straw, June 5, 2020

Solano County is bordered by 5 other Counties: Contra Costa, Napa, Sonoma, Sacramento and Yolo.  I was curious how Solano compares with its neighbors in its containment of the coronavirus.

Below you will find my spreadsheet comparisons showing detailed data on each of these counties.  (Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.)

FINDINGS: Solano County ranks second from highest among its neighbors in cases per 1000, deaths per 1000 and fatality rate.  …ALSO: there’s something serious going on in Yolo County.

After the tables, you will find my County snapshots for this data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

COUNTY DATA ON JUNE 5, 2020

Counties by Coronavirus Cases per 1000

COUNTY POPULATION CASES CASES PER 1000 DEATHS DEATHS PER 1000 FATALITY RATE (Deaths/Cases)
Contra Costa 1,133,247 1,547 1.37 38 0.03 2.46
Solano 438,530 559 1.27 22 0.05 3.94
Sonoma 501,317 593 1.18 4 0.01 0.67
Yolo 214,977 216 1.00 24 0.11 11.11
Sacramento 1,510,023 1,490 0.99 58 0.04 3.89
Napa 140,530 126 0.90 3 0.02 2.38

Counties by Coronavirus Deaths per 1000

COUNTY POPULATION CASES CASES PER 1000 DEATHS DEATHS PER 1000 FATALITY RATE (Deaths/Cases)
Yolo 214,977 216 1.00 24 0.11 11.11
Solano 438,530 559 1.27 22 0.05 3.94
Sacramento 1,510,023 1,490 0.99 58 0.04 3.89
Contra Costa 1,133,247 1,547 1.37 38 0.03 2.46
Napa 140,530 126 0.90 3 0.02 2.38
Sonoma 501,317 593 1.18 4 0.01 0.67

Counties by Fatality Rate (deaths/cases)

COUNTY POPULATION CASES CASES PER 1000 DEATHS DEATHS PER 1000 FATALITY RATE (Deaths/Cases)
Yolo 214,977 216 1.00 24 0.11 11.11
Solano 438,530 559 1.27 22 0.05 3.94
Sacramento 1,510,023 1,490 0.99 58 0.04 3.89
Contra Costa 1,133,247 1,547 1.37 38 0.03 2.46
Napa 140,530 126 0.90 3 0.02 2.38
Sonoma 501,317 593 1.18 4 0.01 0.67

County snapshots from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center

SNAPSHOT ON JUNE 5, 2020: SOLANO COUNTY

Solano County COVID-19 Status Report on June 5, 2020 (Click on the image to open interactive chart on Johns Hopkins website.)

SNAPSHOT ON JUNE 5, 2020: CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Contra Costa County COVID-19 Status Report on June 5, 2020 (Click on the image to open interactive chart on Johns Hopkins website.)

SNAPSHOT ON JUNE 5, 2020: NAPA COUNTY

Napa County COVID-19 Status Report on June 5, 2020 (Click on the image to open interactive chart on Johns Hopkins website.)

SNAPSHOT ON JUNE 5, 2020: SONOMA COUNTY

Sonoma County COVID-19 Status Report on June 5, 2020 (Click on the image to open interactive chart on Johns Hopkins website.)

SNAPSHOT ON JUNE 5, 2020: SACRAMENTO COUNTY

Sacramento County COVID-19 Status Report on June 5, 2020 (Click on the image to open interactive chart on Johns Hopkins website.)

SNAPSHOT ON JUNE 5, 2020: YOLO COUNTY

Yolo County COVID-19 Status Report on June 5, 2020 (Click on the image to open interactive chart on Johns Hopkins website.)