All posts by Roger Straw

Editor, owner, publisher of The Benicia Independent
Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Solano County sees 86 new COVID-19 cases, upticks in Benicia and Fairfield, 2 new deaths

Tuesday, July 7: 86 new cases today,
2 new deaths. Since the outbreak started: 1,826 cases, 107 hospitalized, 27 deaths.

Compare previous report, Monday July 6:Summary

  • Solano County reported 86 new cases today, total of 1,826 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 7 days, Solano reported 538 new cases, an average of 77 per day.
  • 2 new deaths today, both over 65 years, total of 27.
  • Hospitalizations – Solano is reporting 8 more currently hospitalized since yesterday, for a total of 35, but… no increase in the number hospitalized since the outbreak started, total of 107.  (Huh?  This is a puzzle…  Maybe a number of discharged patients were re-admitted?  Or the County is correcting an error?)
  • Active cases – Solano reported 24 more ACTIVE cases today, total of 317.  This figure has been climbing: a week ago Monday there were 70 active cases, increasing to a high of 369 on Thursday, down to 293 yesterday and back up today to 317.  Only 35 of those active cases are hospitalized – a whole lot of infected people are out among us, hopefully quarantined.
  • ICU beds Available fell 4% to 31%.  Ventilators Available dropped 2% to 86%.
  • Testing – Solano County reported 455 residents were tested since yesterday, total of 34,329.  We still have a long way to go: only 7.7% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Details and Demographics tab

The County’s Public Health Dashboard includes a second tab (panel), “Details and Demographics” (shown here).  Note that the Summary tab and this Details tab are both user interactive – hover over a chart (or tap) to get details. On this Details tab, most of the small charts have a small additional tab showing the rate per 100,000.   Go there and explore the two tabs.  (Expand a chart by clicking the small button in its upper right corner.)

By Age Group

  • Youth 17 and under – 15 new cases today, total of 179 cases, and no new hospitalizations, total only 2.  Two weeks ago, there were only 70 cases among this age group – we’ve seen over 100 new cases in 15 days!  I continue to be alarmed for Solano’s youth.  Cases among Solano youth have increased in recent weeks to nearly 10% of the 1,826 total confirmed cases.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 50 new cases today, total of 1,077 cases.  This age group represents 59% of the 1,826 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1  fewer hospitalization among this age group today, (no explanation) total of 28 hospitalized at one time, and 2 deaths.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 16 new cases today, total of 355 cases.  This age group represents 19% of the 1,826 total cases.
    1 new hospitalization today, total of 36 hospitalized at one time.  No new deaths, total of 3 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 5 new cases today, total of 214 cases.  This age group represents 12% of the 1,826 total cases.  No new hospitalizations, total of 41 hospitalized at one time.
    2 new deaths, total of 22 deaths.  In this older age group, 19% were hospitalized at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  And this group counts for 22 of the 27 deaths, or 81%.

Incidence Rate: Cases, Hospitalizations, Deaths

On the Age Group chart (and also on the Race/Ethnicity Chart) there are “Rate” tabs.  Today’s report shows Solano County with:

    • Solano County has 406 positive cases per population of 100,000 (Compare this number with the City incidence rates, below.)
    • 26 Solano hospitalizations per population of 100,000
    • 5 Solano deaths per population of 100,000

Percent Positive Test Rates

Increasingly, national, state and county news reports are focusing on percent positive test rates.  Five Bay Area counties report daily on their seven-day average percent positive test rate, but Solano County does not.  This information is immediately important, as positive test rates in California and other southwestern states are increasing.  I wrote and asked Dr. Matyas on June 24 to supply information as to Solano County’s “percent positive test rate.”  He replied next day with thanks and wrote, “We are actively working to include these values on our County dashboard.  I hope we can begin to report on them sometime next week.”  That was nearly 2 weeks ago….

City Data

  • Vallejo added 20 new cases today, total of 640.
  • Fairfield added 33 new cases today, total of 620.  Fairfield has seen over 250 new cases over the last week, and is now approaching Vallejo’s total for positive cases.
  • Vacaville added 19 new cases today, total of 282 cases.
  • Suisun City added 6 new cases today, total of 119 cases.
  • Benicia added 4 new cases today, total of 37 cases.  Benicia was extremely stable with no new cases for 14 days June 15-29, and added only 2 cases for the entire month of June.  Now… Benicia has seen 12 new cases in the past week.  The numbers are small in comparison, but something’s definitely going on in Benicia!
  • Dixon added 3 new case today, total of 104 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new case, total of 17 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas – Although the County still still shows Unincorporated at <10 (less than 10), a little math tells the story: Solano’s unincorporated areas remained at 7 cases, unaccounted for in the other City totals.
  • A “Rate” column shows the rate of positive COVID-19 cases (per 100,000 population) for each city.  Benicia has the lowest rate, 134.2 cases per 100,000.  Compare Solano cities’ incidence rates in the chart, and note that the CDC reports today’s rate in California at 658 per 100,000 (up from 558 yesterday).

Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity data includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  There are also tabs showing a calculated rate per 100,000 by race/ethnicity for each of these boxes.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  As of today:

  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 23% of cases, 21% of hospitalizations and 19% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 13% of Solano’s population, and account for 13% of cases, but 29% of hospitalizations, and 35% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 37% of cases.  They account for 26% of hospitalizations, and 23% of deaths.
  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases and 14% of hospitalizations, but 19% of deaths.

Much 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.

California, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

As cases and hospitalizations climb, California scrambles to tamp down the surge

San Francisco Chronicle, Catherine Ho, Alexei Koseff, July 6, 2020
People at Dolores Park on Saturday, July 4, 2020, in San Francisco, Calif.
People at Dolores Park on Saturday, July 4, 2020, in San Francisco, Calif. Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

Coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continued to climb in California and many parts of the Bay Area over the weekend, as the state that found early success in containing the virus is now scrambling to tamp down outbreaks in prisons and spiking new cases among young people.

Statewide, the average number of new cases per day doubled from just under 2,000 in May to 4,000 in June. That number jumped to a daily average of 6,700 new cases the first four days of July alone, according to Chronicle data.

“The damage that COVID-19 can do — this pandemic — is still in front of us,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. “It continues to spread at rates we have not experienced here in the state of California since the beginning of this pandemic.”

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in California hit a record high, 5,690, for the 17th consecutive day. As of July 5, according to Chronicle data, the Bay Area had 494 patients hospitalized, down from its all-time high of 508 on July 3. Prior to the recent spike in cases, the Bay Area had reached a high of 471 hospitalizations on April 7.

The rate of positive tests has also climbed to 6.8% — up from 5.6% last week. It had been holding steady at 4.9% the previous several weeks, and its steady climb indicates the infection is spreading more quickly now than before.

Deaths, however, are declining statewide and in the Bay Area — from an average of 69 per day in May to 64 per day in June in California. The average number of deaths went from 4.8 to 4.5 in the Bay Area during the same period. That may be because more young people are getting diagnosed and hospitalized, but the severity of disease among younger patients is not as acute as it is in older patients, Newsom said.

People line up to buy fireworks from a stand in San Bruno on Friday, July 3, 2020.
People line up to buy fireworks from a stand in San Bruno on Friday, July 3, 2020. Photo: Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle

People line up to buy fireworks from a stand in San Bruno on Friday, July 3, 2020.Photo: Nick Otto / Special to The Chronicle
In the Bay Area, the average number of new cases per day spiked 114%, from 182 in May to 390 in June, and 800 the first four days of July. The Bay Area reported a record-high 1,010 new cases Thursday — the first time the region has surpassed 1,000 new cases a day since the pandemic began.

As of Monday evening, there were 2.9 million confirmed cases in the United States, including 130,284 deaths. California reported 273,303 cases, including 6,450 deaths.

Much of the recent increase has come from large clusters of infections at prisons and nursing homes, as well as community transmission among members of the public as counties have reopened restaurants and businesses over the last several weeks.

Marin County on Sunday said it will suspend indoor dining for at least three weeks, after previously allowing it. Marin is one of 23 counties on a state watch list of counties that are showing warning signs of coronavirus spreading at concerning rates.

The outbreak at San Quentin State Prison in Marin County, where nearly 1,400 inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus, is putting new strain on hospitals that are admitting the patients — in particular at nearby Marin General, Newsom said. The prison is now also sending inmates to Saint Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco and Seton Medical Center in Daly City so those hospitals can help share the responsibility of caring for the patients, Newsom said.

The San Quentin outbreak accounts for more than half of the 2,445 cases that have emerged inside state prisons.

The state over the weekend rejected Santa Clara County’s application to move faster toward reopening. A July 2 county order that allows some activities to resume — including outdoor gatherings of up to 60 people and indoor gatherings of up to 20 people, with some restrictions — is scheduled to take effect on July 13 or when the county gets state approval, whichever date comes later.

Over the holiday weekend, state regulators visited nearly 6,000 bars and restaurants and issued just 52 citations for violations of coronavirus safety guidelines. Newsom said it was an encouraging sign that most Californians are doing the right thing as the state struggles to reopen amid a surging caseload.

After ordering bars and indoor dining closed in most of the state last week, Newsom said that agents with the Department of Alcohol Beverage Control stepped up their enforcement during the Fourth of July weekend out of concern that more people would be out celebrating and visited 5,986 businesses between Thursday and Sunday.

The governor said his administration sent enforcement teams to six key regions across the state with known violators or high-risk workplaces, though he did not specify where those were. He said the effort was more about educating business owners, and state regulators cited only those who were unwilling or unable to make changes to their operations.

“There were only a handful of citations because the overwhelming majority of people were doing the right thing,” Newsom said at a news conference. “I was very encouraged by the team that came back and said that even if people were out of compliance, the engagement got people back into compliance very quickly.”

California is trying to control a coronavirus outbreak that has taken a turn for the worse in recent weeks, following a loosening of restrictions on businesses and public life.

The state is closely monitoring 23 of California’s 58 counties, including Contra Costa, Marin and  Solano in the Bay Area, because of their high rate of new infections, positive tests or increasing hospitalizations. Of the 20 most populous counties in the state, all but five — Alameda, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma — are on the watch list. Napa County is also not being monitored.

Santa Clara County, which was previously flagged for an accelerating rise in hospitalizations, fell off the list over the weekend. After being removed late last week, Contra Costa County was added back.

Counties that have been on the list for three consecutive days must close bars and indoor dining, wineries, tasting rooms, family entertainment centers, movie theaters, museums, zoos and card rooms for at least three weeks.

Solano County Assessor-Recorder, Solano County CA, Taxes, Valero Benicia Refinery

Solano County property tax assessments – keep an eye on this

[BenIndy editor: I’ve been around long enough to know that Valero Benicia Refinery routinely appeals its tax assessment, and that Solano County has been known to roll over and “give away the farm.”  Who in Benicia will monitor this and advocate for the City and County?  Check out the Solano County Assessment Appeals Board.  – R.S.]

Solano County assessment roll increases for eighth year in a row

Vallejo Times-Herald, July 6, 2020

Solano County Assessor-Recorder Marc Tonnesen announced Monday morning that the local assessment roll for properties throughout the county for fiscal year 2020, 2021 increased by $2.9 billion — or approximately 4.94 percent — in assessed value over last year.

“This is the eighth year in a row that the total assessed roll value increased countywide,” said Marc Tonnesen, Solano County Assessor-Recorder in a press release. “The real estate market showed steady growth over the past year, while new construction continues to add value to the property tax roll.”

At the close of the roll, the value of all assessable property in Solano County was nearly $60.9 billion ($60,888,053,079). This “net roll” is used by local agencies as a starting point to calculate the distribution of property taxes for the benefit of the cities, schools, special districts and local programs.

“Closing the roll this year involved some unique challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, but I am proud to announce the timely completion of this roll,” Tonnesen said in the press release. “As far as values are concerned, since the values in this roll are derived based on the January 1, 2020 assessment date, the overall impact COVID-19 has had on local property values will not be reflected until we begin work on the fiscal year 2021/22 assessment roll.”

As real estate market values continue to rise, the number of properties on Proposition 8 status – which is a temporary reduction in a property value below the established Proposition 13 base year value – has decreased. There are currently 8,507 parcels on Proposition 8 status, a decrease of 367 from the previous fiscal year. The total number of parcels on Proposition 8 status peaked 2012 at 78,000 parcels. There are 149,588 parcels county-wide, spread between the seven cities and unincorporated county.

Police reform, Police violence, Vallejo Police

ACLU, SF Board of Supes request release of footage in Monterrosa shooting

Vallejo Times-Herald, by John Glidden, July 6, 2020 
Jorge and Linda Moreno, former roommates of Sean Monterrosa, protest in front of City Hall prior to a June 5 march. Monterrosa was killed by a Vallejo police officer on June 2. (Chris Riley – Times-Herald file photo)

Pressure continues to mount from outside Vallejo to release body camera footage from the fatal officer-involved shooting of Sean Monterrosa in front of a Vallejo Walgreens during the early morning hours of June 2.

Both the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors have taken the rare action of asking Vallejo leaders to release the body camera footage immediately, instead of delaying release of the footage up to 45 calendar days — as allowed by state law.

“For years, police accountability and civil rights activist in Vallejo have run up against a police department that has disproportionately targeted people of color, has been allowed to brutalize Black and Latino residents, and has rarely been held accountable for its actions,” part of the supervisors’ June 16 resolution reads.

In its five-page letter from June 30, the ACLU criticizes the city for failing to release the body camera footage, and video from a private drone sought through the California Public Records Act by the nonprofit public interest newsroom Open Vallejo.

“Not only is the city required to release these records pursuant to the PRA, the city’s delay erodes what little public trust remains with a community that has seen far too many killed and brutally assaulted by the police,” the letter states.

Monterrosa, 22, of San Francisco was shot and killed outside the Walgreens on Redwood Street. Law enforcement sources say the police officer is Jarrett Tonn. He fired five times through a car windshield, hitting Monterrosa once. City and police officials have yet to officially confirm Tonn as the shooter.

“Sean Monterrosa was my constituent and a beloved member of the Bernal Heights and Mission District neighborhoods that I represent,” said San Francisco Supervisor Hillary Ronen, who authored the resolution, in a statement to the Times-Herald on Monday. “He was a passionate advocate for social justice, and his death by Vallejo police has left a painful void in our community. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the resolution I authored urging the release of body camera footage from the officers involved in Sean’s death in order to bring greater transparency to this case and help Sean’s family obtain the justice they deserve.”

Monterrosa’s sister, Ashley Monterrosa, told the Times-Herald over the weekend that the family was offered the chance recently to watch the body camera footage, but only without a lawyer. The family declined.

Ashley Monterrosa said the family is hoping to watch the footage some time this week with their lawyer. She said a lawsuit would likely be followed afterward. The Monterrosa family is being represented by civil rights attorney John Burris.