Friday, July 17: 71 new cases today, no new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 2,554 cases, 31 deaths.

Compare previous report, Thursday July 15:Summary

• Solano County reported 71 new cases today, total of 2,554 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 7 days, Solano reported 479 new cases, an average of 68 per day.
• No new deaths today, total of 31.
• Hospitalizations – 4 fewer currently hospitalized persons today, total of 51.  The County reports an increase of 3 in the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started, 127.  Not sure how to reconcile current and total hospitalization numbers….  (The County no longer reports Total Hospitalized plainly, but I have added the numbers in the Age Group chart.)
• Active cases – Solano reported 47 fewer ACTIVE cases today, total of 393.  The number of Active Cases has been climbing steadily in July, increasing from 307 active cases to yesterday’s record high of 440.  Note that only 51 of these 393 active cases are hospitalized; a lot of infected people are out among us, hopefully quarantined.  One wonders… is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?
• ICU beds Available remained steady at 39%.  Ventilators Available also remained steady at 90%.
• Testing – 798 residents were tested since yesterday, total of 41,498.  But we still have a long way to go: only 9% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Percent Positive Test Rate

Solano County reported today’s 7-day percent positive test rate at 9.1%.  Over this first week of reporting positive test data, Solano’s rate has increased each day: 5.3% on Monday, then 6.7%, 7.3%, 8.4%, and finishing out the week today at 9.1%.  This is definitely not a good trend.  In addition to daily figures, the dashboard shows a line graph charting the positive test rate over time. The dramatic daily increases this week will begin to show on the 7-day average line sometime next week.  CONTEXT: Increasingly, health officials and news reports are focusing on percent positive test rates.  Most Bay Area counties report daily on their seven-day average percent positive test rate, but Solano County did not until Monday.  This information is immediately important, as test positivity is one of the best metrics for measuring the spread of the virus.  Positive test rates in California and other southwestern states have been on the rise.  California’s positivity rate today is reported at 7.1%.

By Age Group

• Youth 17 and under – 6 new cases today, total of 243 cases, and no new hospitalizations, total only 2 since the outbreak began.  A week ago, there were only 202 cases among this age group – we’ve seen 41 new cases in just 7 days!  I continue to raise an alarm for Solano’s youth.  Cases among Solano youth have increased in recent weeks to 9.5% of the 2,554 total confirmed cases.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 45 new cases today, total of 1,548 cases.  This age group represents over 60% of the 2,554 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization and no new deaths among this age group today, total of 33 hospitalized since the outbreak began, and 2 deaths.
• Persons 50-64 years of age – 15 new cases today, total of 494 cases.  This age group represents over 19% of the 2,554 total cases.  2 new hospitalizations today, total of 41 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths, total of 3 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – 5 new cases today, total of 268 cases.  This age group represents 10.5% of the 2,554 total cases. No new hospitalizations, total of 51 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths, total of 26 deaths.  In this older age group, just under 19% of cases required hospitalization at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  This group accounts for 26 of the 31 deaths, or 84%.

Incidence Rate: Cases, Hospitalizations, Deaths

On the Race/Ethnicity chart and the Age Group chart there are “Rate” tabs.  Today’s report shows:

• Solano County has 568 positive cases per population of 100,000, up from 552 yesterday and 462 last Friday (Compare this number with the City incidence rates, below.)
• 28 Solano hospitalizations per population of 100,000, about the same as yesterday.
• 7 Solano deaths per population of 100,000, unchanged since yesterday.

City Data

• Benicia added 3 new cases today, total of 55 cases.  Benicia was extremely stable with only 2 new cases for the entire month of June.  Now Benicia has seen 15 new cases in 7 days.
• Dixon added 2 new cases today, total of 135 cases.
• Fairfield added 28 new cases today, total of 881.  Fairfield has more positive cases than anywhere in Solano County.
• Rio Vista added 0 new cases today, total of 23 cases.
• Suisun City added 8 new cases today, total of 193 cases.
• Vacaville added 10 new cases today, total of 420 cases.
• Vallejo added 20 new cases today, total of 839.
• 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 steady at 8 cases, those unaccounted for in the other City totals.

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 22% of cases, 23% of hospitalizations and 21% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 27% of hospitalizations, and 32% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 34% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations, and 25% of deaths.
• Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 9% of cases and 14% of hospitalizations, but 18% 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.