Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA, Vacaville CA

COVID-19 continues to spread in Solano County, 203 new cases overnight, 2210 active infections

Huge 2-week increase in Vacaville cases, over 1600 in 14 days

By Roger Straw, December 31, 2020  [Sources: see below.] [Editor: This will be an abbreviated report.  Solano Public Health worked all day, and so did I – but I’m taking the evening off for New Year’s! – R.S.]

Thursday, December 31: 203 new Solano cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since Feb: 19,211 cases, more than 750 hospitalized, 98 deaths.Compare previous report, Wednesday, Dec. 30:Summary

    • Solano County reported 203 new cases overnight.  In just the last 14 days, Solano has seen an increase of 4,383 new cases.  We’re averaging 313 (!) new cases every day! (source: covid19.ca.gov)  Total of 19,211 cases since the outbreak started.  Vacaville has added over 1,600 new cases in the last 2 weeks!  Something is going on in Vacaville.
    • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 98 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 72 more active cases today for a total of 2,210 active cases.  Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 2,210!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – CAUTION ON SOLANO HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County “occasionally” updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Today, Solano reported 4 more CURRENTLY hospitalized persons, total of 138.  Among the age groups, the County reported only 6 new hospitalizations, for a total of 753 persons hospitalized since the outbreak began.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.  For COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported more ICU beds available today, back up to only 21% available, still in the YELLOW DANGER ZONE.  COVID19-CA.GOV reported today that SOLANO COUNTY HAD ONLY 3 AVAILABLE ICU BEDS AS OF YESTERDAY, DECEMBER 30.  (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
Positive Test Rate – NEARLY 1 IN 5 ARE TESTING POSITIVE – VIRUS SPREADING LIKE WILDFIRE, STAY HOME!

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate today at 18.5%, DOWN from yesterday’s 19.0%, but still far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was down slightly from yesterday’s 11.8% to 11.6% today.  (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 therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group – Continuing a holiday surge in all age groups
  • Youth 17 and under – 17 new cases today, total of 2,133 cases, representing 11.1% of the 19,211 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 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 at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 17 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 86 new cases today, total of 10,890 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 56.7% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization among persons in this age group today.  A total of 238 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 7 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 53 new cases today, total of 3,989 cases.  This age group represents 20.8% of the 19,211 total cases.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization among persons in this age group today.  A total of 206 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 17 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 47 new cases today, total of 2,190, representing 11.4% of Solano’s 19,211 total cases.  The County reported 4 new hospitalizations (!) among persons in this age group today.  A total of 292 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 74 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 98 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 4 new cases today, total of 508 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 5 new cases today, total of 1221 cases.
  • Fairfield added 48 new cases today, total of 5,443 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 4 new cases today, total of 165 cases.
  • Suisun City added 16 new cases today, total of 1,346 cases.
  • Vacaville added 86 (!) new cases today, total of 4,854 cases.
  • Vallejo added 40 new cases today, total of 5,613 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 61 cases.
More…

The County’s 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 significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Source
Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today, around 8pm).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.