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COVID infections slowing in Solano, but County records 4 new deaths and 31 hospitalizations

By Roger Straw, Monday, September 27, 2021

Monday, September 27: Solano County reports only 48 new infections over the weekend, but adds 4 deaths and 31 hospitalizations

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: 4 new COVID-related deaths today.  Total Solano deaths over the course of the pandemic now at 294.  The County reported 9 new deaths last week and 24 so far in September:

Total deaths by age and race/ethnicity:

CASES: The County reported  only 48 new COVID cases over the 3- day weekend, 16 per day.  We have not seen numbers this low since June 16.  I hope it’s accurate, but it’s such a quick drop that it does make me wonder if there was a mistake!

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen 402 new cases, dropping for the first time since July 21 slightly below the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate.  Solano is now at the upper limit of the CDC’s SUBSTANTIAL rate of transmission.

(CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County population of 449,432, the CDC would rate us in “SUBSTANTIAL” transmission with 225 cases over the last 7 days.  Double that, or 450 cases in the last 7 days would rank us in “HIGH” transmission.  Reference: CDC’s “Level of SARS-CoV-2 Community Transmission”.]

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 412 ACTIVE cases is down from Friday’s 646, but still far above our summer rates.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Our 7-day average percent positivity rate was only 5.6% today, down significantly from 7.5% on Friday, and the lowest we’ve seen since June 28.  COMPARE: today’s California rate is 2.6%. [Source: LA Times Covid Tracker]  Today’s U.S. rate is 7.2%.  [Source: CDC Data Tracker]

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were down today from 64 to 61 persons, but still in the range we saw during the winter surge.

ICU Bed Availability is up some today, from 21% to 24%, and still the yellow danger zone.  Again, we are in the worrisome range we saw during the winter surge.

Ventilator Availability went up today from 48% to 54%, an improvement, but still in the range of last February’s winter surge.

TOTAL hospitalizations  Solano County’s TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  The County updated its Hospitalizations charts today, adding 31 previously unreported hospitalizations.  See below.  The race/ethnicity numbers indicate a number of persons whose race/ethnicity was not given or recorded.  All percentages remain unchanged.

FACE MASKS… Required for all in Benicia and Vallejo

Benicia City Council passed a citywide indoors mask mandate that went into effect on August 24 and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  Benicia was joined by Vallejo on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against a mask mandate for public indoors spaces.

THE SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS failed to even consider an agendized proposal for a countywide MASK MANDATE.  On Tuesday, September 14, the Board’s agenda called for discussion of an indoors mask mandate for all and a vaccination mandate for county workers.  The Board voted 4-1 to require county-run facilities in Vallejo and Benicia to abide by local mandates.  But the Board voted down the vaccination mandate 3-2, and failed to even consider the county-wide mask mandate.  The Solano Board of Supervisors now joins with Dr. Bela Matyas in officially showing poor leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cases by City on Monday, September 27:
  • Benicia added 1 new case today, a total of 1,413 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia has seen 15 new cases over the last 7 days, VERY NEARLY dropping below the CDC’s definition of SUBSTANTIAL community transmission (defined as 14-28 cases, based on Benicia population).  [Note that Solano County is also rated far above substantial transmission, and Solano’s 6 other cities are likely also individually experiencing high or substantial transmission.]
  • Dixon added 1 new case today, total of 2,448 cases.
  • Fairfield added 6 new cases today, total of 11,821 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 0 new cases today, total of 561 cases.
  • Suisun City added 6 new cases today, total of 3,121 cases.
  • Vacaville added 14 new cases today, a total of 11,587 cases.
  • Vallejo added 20 new cases today, a total of 12,895 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 137 cases (population figures not available).

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 on my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday around 4 or 5pm.  On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information.  Note the tabs at top for “Summary, Demographics” and “Vaccines.”  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.

Sources