Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Solano County COVID – Delayed reporting on Wednesday, July 29

July 29, 2020, 7:00pm
UDATED – see Solano County COVID – UPDATED report for Wednesday, July 29 – 1 new death, another senior

The Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard is undergoing late revisions and tardy posting tonight.  I will not be able to post my report in a timely fashion today.  Please check back tomorrow.

Solano County Dashboard (partial) July 29, 2020, 7pm


What little is known and reportable: 1 more death, total of 37, Positive test rate back up to 6.5%, 28 additional positive cases, and 637 residents tested

Roger Straw
The Benicia Independent

Yesterday’s Report…

[NOTE: Solano County publishes a DAILY update, and displays past weeks and months in epidemic curve charts.  However, the curve charts do not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  This methodology is accurate in a way, but it misleads the public by consistently displaying a recent downward curve which is corrected upward on a later date.  For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE – R.S.]

Tuesday, July 28: 105 new cases in just one day, no new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 3,388 cases, 36 deaths.

Compare previous report, Monday July 27:Summary

  • Solano County reported 105 new cases today, total of 3,388 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 7 days, Solano reported 531 new cases, an average of 76 per day.
  • Deaths – no new deaths today, total of 36.
  • Active cases – Solano reported 24 more ACTIVE cases today, total of 223.  Last week Solano hit a record high of 440 active cases.  Note that only 50 of these 223 people are hospitalized, so there are a lot of infected folks out among us, hopefully quarantined.  One wonders… is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  (See SF Chronicle report on contact tracing in Bay Area – “Solano County did not respond”.)
  • Hospitalizations – 5 more currently hospitalized persons today, total of 50.  23 more in the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started, 162.  (The County no longer reports Total Hospitalized, but I have added the hospitalization numbers in the Age Group chart.)  For the 3rd day in a row, the County offers no information about ICU beds and ventilators.  Apparently, the County does not collect or receive this data from our hospitals, but relies on data collected by the State.  You would think that when the County gathers data on Currently Hospitalized they could also easily collect the ICU bed and ventilator data.  Or… ??
  • Testing – 886 residents were tested since yesterday, total of 50,925.  But we still have a long way to go: only 11.4% 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 5.8%, down 0.1% since yesterday.  (This number may be misleading – see NOTE at top of this page.)  The County posted
a record high of 9.3% last week – so if today’s number can be believed, and sustained, it is very good news!  CONTEXT: California’s 7-day positivity rate is reported today at 7.5%.  Increasingly, health officials and news reports are focusing on percent positive test rates.  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.

By Age Group

  • Youth 17 and under – 13 new cases today, total of 345 cases, and no new hospitalizations, only 2 hospitalizations since the outbreak began.  A week ago, there were 282 cases among this age group – we’ve seen 63 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 over 10% of the 3,388 total confirmed cases.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 60 new cases today, total of 2,059 cases.  This age group represents 61% of the 3,388 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 8 new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 45 hospitalized since the outbreak began, and no new deaths among this age group, total of 3 deaths.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 23 new cases today, total of 647 cases.  This age group represents over 19% of the 3,388 total cases.  The County reported 8 new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 51 hospitalized since the outbreak began, and no new deaths among this age group, total of 4 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 9 new cases today, total of 336 cases.  This age group represents just under 10% of the 3,388 total cases. 7 new hospitalizations, total of 64 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths, total of 29.  In this older age group, 19% of cases required hospitalization at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  This group accounts for 29 of the 36 deaths, or 80%.

City Data

  • Benicia added 6 new cases yesterday and again today, total of 80 cases.  Benicia was extremely stable with only 2 new cases in the month of June.  Now Benicia has seen 18 new cases in 7 days.
  • Dixon added 7 new cases today, total of 179 cases.
  • Fairfield added 16 new cases today, total of 1,124.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 26 cases.
  • Suisun City added 10 new cases today, total of 248 cases.
  • Vacaville added 15 new cases today, total of 578 cases.
  • Vallejo added 58 new cases yesterday and 49 more today, total of 1,142 cases.  A big jump in cases in Vallejo – major outbreak?  Vallejo replaced Fairfield today with more positive cases than anywhere in Solano County.
  • Unincorporated areas – Unincorporated areas added 1 case today, total of 11 cases.

Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity 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 21% of cases, 25% of hospitalizations and 25% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 13% of cases, but 23% of hospitalizations, and 31% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 29% of cases, 32% of hospitalizations, and 25% of deaths.
  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 9% of cases and 12% of hospitalizations, but 16% 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.