Coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19.CA.GOV, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Solano County CA

Solano COVID update on December 1 – 83 new cases overnight, test rate 11.9%

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard.  For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  ALSO see important daily updates from another source, COVID19.CA.GOV: here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths, etc. AND Hospitalizations.]

Tuesday, December 1: 83 new cases overnight, no deaths.  Since the outbreak began: 10,731 cases, 603 hospitalized, 81 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, Nov. 30:Summary

  • Solano County reported 83 new cases overnight.  As of today, Solano has seen an average of 112 new cases per day over the last 14 days!  Total of 10,731 cases since the outbreak started.
  • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 81 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
  • Active cases – Solano reported 52 fewer active cases today, total of 808 active cases.  Despite recent lower numbers, active cases have increased alarmingly lately – COMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284 – today we are at 808!!  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 – (See BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County for State of California data.)  Solano County’s daily update reported 68 currently hospitalized, and indicated that the TOTAL hospitalized since the outbreak began remained steady today, total of 603. [For my manual calculation of total, see age group stats below.]
  • ICU Beds – (See BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County for State of California data.)  The County reported no change in ICU beds available today, remaining at 33%.
  • Testing – The County reports today that 721 residents were tested since yesterday, a total of 127,865 unduplicated residents tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  28.6% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate – still extremely high, 11.9%

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate fell today from yesterday’s 12.3% to 11.9% – 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 has also been on the rise lately, and rose substantially today from 6.5% to 7.0%.  (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
  • Youth 17 and under – 9 new cases today, total of 1,231 cases, representing 11.5% of the 10,731 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group.  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.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 49 new cases today, total of 6,257 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents just under 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 194 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 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 – 19 new cases today, total of 2,097 cases.  This age group represents over 19% of the 10,731 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 162 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 15 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 6 new cases today, total of 1,140, representing 10.6% of Solano’s 10,731 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 233 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, total of 60 of our elders who died of COVID, accounting for 74% of Solano’s 81 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 1 new case today, total of 287 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 7 new cases today, total of 745 cases.
  • Fairfield added 18 new cases today, total of 3,243 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 2 new cases today, total of 93 cases.
  • Suisun City added 4 new cases today, total of 743 cases.
  • Vacaville added 21new cases today, total of 2,206 cases.
  • Vallejo added 30 new cases today, total of 3,374 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 40 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 19% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 23% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 23% of cases, 26% of hospitalizations, and 18% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 26% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is USUALLY 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.

Benicia City Council, Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

TONIGHT! Benicia City Council to honor our friend, Mayor Elizabeth Patterson

Benicia council to say goodbye to outgoing mayor

by John Glidden | Nov. 30, 2020

BENICIA – Outgoing Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson will be honored on Tuesday by elected officials after nearly 20 years of public service on the City Council.

Patterson, who was first elected to the City Council in 2003, began her run as mayor when she was elected to the position in 2007. She went on to be re-elected twice before deciding earlier this year not to seek a fourth term as mayor.

She told the Fairfield Daily Republic in July that she will be focusing her energies on fighting climate change.

Patterson will be presented with a resolution honoring her service to Benicia.

The resolution, in part, states that she “worked tirelessly to protect and promote Benicia’s interests on a wide range of issues, from public safety to fiscal responsibility, and that of the larger community, by promoting sustainability and climate awareness.”

It also praises Patterson’s “advocacy for environmental sustainability dovetailed with her passion for planning, which led to a leadership role in forming the Community Sustainability Commission.”

The Benicia City Council will hold two meetings Tuesday night.

At 6 p.m., the council will meet in closed session to discuss once case of potential litigation. Then at 7 p.m., in open session, the council is expected to certify the election results of the council and mayor contests and also honor Patterson.

Councilman Steve Young won election to the mayor’s seat, defeating Vice Mayor Christina Strawbridge for the position. Councilman Tom Campbell won re-election to the five-person council with Planning Commissioner Trevor Macenski narrowly edging out Benicia Arts and Culture Commission member Terry Scott by less than 130 votes for Young’s council seat.

During the second meeting at 7:30 p.m., Young, Campbell, and Macenski will be sworn in for their new terms. They will join Strawbridge, and fellow Councilman Lionel Largaespada.

Those wishing to submit a comment for the either meeting can do so by emailing the comments to Benicia City Clerk Lisa Wolfe at lwolfe@ci.benicia.ca.us.

The general public can view the public three ways: Cable T.V. Broadcast on Channel 27; livestream online at http://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/agendas, or by Zoom meeting.

The Zoom link is
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83511032155?pwd=b3Z6S3UxcnhmaUhxWlRUc2ttSkpRQT09
• If prompted for a password, enter 454382.
• Use participant option to “raise hand” during the public comment period for the item you wish to speak on. Please note, your electronic device must have microphone capability.

Or the public can dial in with phone:
Before the start of the item you wish to comment on, call any of the numbers below. If one is busy, try
the next one.
1 669 900 9128
1 346 248 7799
1 253 215 8782
1 646 558 8656
1 301 715 8592
1 312 626 6799
• Enter the meeting ID number: 835 1103 2155 please note this is an updated ID number.
• Enter password: 454382
• When prompted for a Participant ID, press #.
• Press *9 on your phone to “raise your hand” when the Mayor calls for public comment during the item you wish to speak on. Once unmuted, you will have up to 5 minutes to speak.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID19.CA.GOV, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA

Solano County hospitalizations on 2020-11-30: 7 more positive patients, 3 more in ICU

By Roger Straw, December 1, 2020

Slight improvement over previous day

The State of California’s  COVID19.ca.gov website is an incredibly rich resource for daily updates with latest data on hospitalizations (and much more) – both for the State and by individual Counties.

Each day the State updates the numbers along with “Change from Prior Day” and “14-Day Rolling Average.”  Below is a screenshot of today’s results.  The CURRENT data on the COVID19 website provides much more by simply hovering over various components.

On Tuesday, December 1, COVID19.CA.GOV showed Solano County COVID19 hospitalizations as of Monday, November 30:

  • 66 Positive Patients (7 more than previous day, 14 day rolling average of 60)
  • 13 additional Suspected Patients (1 fewer than previous day, 14 day rolling average of 11)
  • 18 ICU Positive Patients (3 more than previous day, 14 day rolling average of 14)
  • 3 additional ICU Suspected Patients (same as previous day, 14 day rolling average of 2)
  • 12 ICU Available Beds (3 fewer than previous day)
As of yesterday, Monday, November 30, 2020
Yesterday’s report – As of Sunday, November29,2020