#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano County cuts back on COVID reporting

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

At the top of yesterday’s Solano County COVID Dashboard, Public Health announced that it will no longer post updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The notice reads: Solano County Public Health Dashboards **Notice: Dashboard will be updated on Mondays and Thursdays starting the week of March 14, 2022**

This is further evidence of our Public Health Officer’s misreading of the urgency and still alarming spread of the virus here in Benicia and throughout the County. Solano leadership seems oblivious to the potential rise of the new “stealth variant” of COVID, BA.2. (See Yale Medicine, Omicron and the BA.2 Subvariant: A Guide to What We Know).

The past should provide a key warning: Solano Public Health cut back on its sharing of COVID data once before.  In the third week of June last year (2021), when the Delta variant had subsided some and we found ourselves in a lull, Public Health quit reporting 5 days a week, and went to their current M/W/F dashboard updates.

We never returned to the 5-day reporting, even as Omicron blossomed, sickened and killed.

I wrote to our too optimistic Public Health Officer, Dr. Bela Matyas, expressing my disappointment, and copied my Solano County Supervisor, Monica Brown – but I doubt my warning will have any effect.

Air pollution, Air quality violations, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Benicia City Council, Benzene emissions, Hazardous emissions, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Local Regulation, Valero Benicia Refinery

KQED Morning Edition: City Leaders in Benicia not happy over Air District findings against Valero Refinery

City Leaders in Benicia not happy to learn recently that the Valero was emitting excessive amounts of hazardous chemicals for over a decade

KQED Radio, Morning Edition, March 1, 2022

Brian Watt interviews Ted Goldberg:

Air pollution, Air quality violations, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), Benzene emissions, Hazardous emissions, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Local Regulation, Valero Benicia Refinery

VIDEO: Air District Investigation Shows Valero Benicia Refinery Released Toxic Chemicals for Years

Brief report and video by Benicia videographer Constance Beutel, Ed.D.

Constance Beutel

In an unusual and welcomed step, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District held a community meeting for Benicia to discuss the upcoming Air Board meeting (March 15, 2022) regarding Valero’s nearly 18 year violation of District emissions standards.

To say the least, Benicia Community members, City Staff and some electeds were shocked to learn of the long unreported emissions exceedance as well as the Air District’s withholding of this information for over three years. To its credit, the Air District was present in full force to present their findings and to hear every question and concern voiced by those in attendance.

The Air District will be advising/suggesting that the Air Board grant that penalty fines assigned to Valero be given to the City of Benicia.

The tone of the community’s response was mostly of frustration over years of voicing concern and not being kept in the loop as to major issues and in not rectifying on-going serious problems.

Constance Beutel

Highlights from Bay Area Air Quality Management District Meeting: Benicia CA, February 24, 2022

Longer version (1 hour): Bay Area Air Quality Management District Community Meeting: Benicia, CA February 24, 2022

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Benicia’s 7-day COVID case count falls from HIGH to SUBSTANTIAL rate, first time since December 20

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

By Roger Straw, Friday, February 25, 2022

Solano County reports 233 new COVID infections in last two days, no deaths.  Benicia’s 7-day case count falls into SUBSTANTIAL transmission rate for first time since Dec. 20.  Solano County continues in HIGH transmission rate.

Solano Public Health COVID dashboard, Friday, February 25, 2022:

DEATHS:  Solano reported no new deaths in today’s report. Trending: Fifteen new deaths reported so far in February, ALL over 65 years of age.  The County has seen increasing COVID-related deaths each month since last November, rising to 30 in January.  A total of 396 Solano residents have now died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES BY AGE GROUP: The color-coded chart (below) shows an alarming steady increase among youth and children in Solano County.  The chart displays quarterly and recent snapshots in time by age group, each as a percentage of total cases since the outbreak began.  Increases are in red and decreases are in green as reported by Solano County.  Note the continuing increase among children & youth of Solano County.  The population of those age 0-17 in Solano County is roughly 22%.COMPARE – U.S. cases among children and youth aged 0-17 as percentage of total cases is 17.6% as of today.  (From the CDC covid-data-tracker.)

TRANSMISSION RATE: Solano is experiencing an EXTREMELY HIGH transmission rate, with a total of 1,041 new cases over the last 7 days, down from 1,123 at last report, but still way up from around 500 at Christmastime.  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 or more cases in 7 days places Solano in the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate.  We would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano reported 837 ACTIVE cases today, up a bit from 822 at last report, still more than double the County’s 329 active cases on December 1.

CASES BY CITY – Friday, February 25, 2022:

  • Dixon added 7 new cases today, total of 4,133 cases.
  • Fairfield added 69 new cases today, total of 21,170 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 1,067 cases.
  • Suisun City added 17 new cases today, total of 5,569 cases.
  • Vacaville added 50 new cases today, a total of 19,368 cases.
  • Vallejo added 85 new cases today, a total of 24,753 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 191 cases.

TEST RATE:  Solano County’s 7-Day Percent Positive Test Rate shot up after Christmas and has continued through Wednesday’s very high 13%, but fell dramatically today to only 9%. Even at this lower rate, SOLANO DOES NOT COMPARE FAVORABLY: The CALIFORNIA 7-day % positive rate fell today from 3.5% to 3.2%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  AND the U.S. 7-day % positive rate fell today from 5.6% to 5.3%. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT The number of those currently hospitalized with COVID in Solano County fell today from 43 to 42 persons.

TOTAL hospitalizations over the course of the pandemic – Solano Public Health did not update its Age Group and Race/Ethnicity charts today.  Our total since the beginning of the outbreak is 3,693 Solano residents hospitalized.

ICU Bed Availability in Solano County fell slightly today from 27% to 26%, still in the Yellow danger zone.

Ventilator Availability  improved today from 58% to 67% available. 

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 in 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.

See also my BENINDY ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).  I have also archived the hundreds of full CORONAVIRUS REPORTS posted here almost daily on the Benicia Independent since April 2020.

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