By Roger Straw, Tuesday, February 9, 2021

COVID is still spreading and dangerous in Solano County – stay safe!

Tuesday, February 9: 46 new Solano cases overnight, 6 new deaths.  Since February 2020: 29,040 cases, over 850 hospitalized, 140 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, February 8:Summary

• • CASES – Solano County reported 46 new cases overnight, a total of 29,040 cases since the outbreak started.  In the month of January, Solano added 8,495 new cases, for an average of 274 new cases per day.  Today’s single-day increase of only 46 is the lowest since October 28 of last year.  But according to the Fairfield Daily Republic, “Dr. Bela Matyas, the county public health officer, said the number is likely a reporting glitch from the state.”
  • DEATHS – the County reported 6 new deaths overnight, a total of 140 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.  18 Solano County COVID deaths have been reported in the first 10 days of February, and in the month of January, Solano recorded 24 coronavirus deaths.  While many other COVID stats are improving, the recent surge in deaths is no doubt the final sad result of our holiday surge.
  • ACTIVE cases – Solano reported 134 fewer active cases today, a total of 765 active cases.  Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650, in December 1,658, in January 2,185 – and TODAY we are back down to 765.  Much better, but still, is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  My guess is we just sit back and wait for a voluntary 10 day quarantine to expire.  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
  • HOSPITALIZATIONS – (See expanding ICU capacity and ventilator availability below.)  Today, Solano reported 3 fewer currently hospitalized cases, total of 86.  However, in the number of hospitalizations among age groups, the county reported an increase of 6 new hospitalizations, 3 aged 50-64 and 3 over age 65, for a total of 855 hospitalized in all age groups since the pandemic began.) Even then, accuracy cannot be certain – note>>  In a Dec. 31 Fairfield Daily Republic article, reporter Todd Hanson wrote, “Since the start of the pandemic, and as of Wednesday, 9,486 residents have been hospitalized.”  This startling number is far and away above the number of residents hospitalized as indicated in the County’s count of age group hospitalizations, and not available anywhere on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard.  Asked about his source, Hanson replied that Solano Public Health “had to do a little research on my behalf.”  It would be good if the County could add Total Hospitalized to its daily Dashboard update.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.  For COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
  • ICU BEDS – In late January, Solano hospitals expanded their ICU capacity [see BenIndy, Jan. 25]  Even with the expanded ICU capacity, Solano County remained in the YELLOW DANGER ZONE until yesterday’s encouraging GREEN ZONE report.  But today the County went YELLOW again, reporting 30% available today, down from 34% yesterday.  The State’s COVID19-CA.GOV reports that Solano County had 15 AVAILABLE ICU BEDS as of yesterday, February 8.  (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
  • VENTILATORS available – Today Solano hospitals have 58% of ventilators available, up from yesterday’s 55% but down substantially from last summer’s reports of 82-94% available.

Positive Test Rate – SOLANO TEST RATE of 10.2% – STILL HIGH, VIRUS STILL SPREADING, STAY SAFE!

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate of 10.2%, up from yesterday’s 9.6%, and still above 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.  COMPARE: The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was 4.8% today, down from yesterday’s 5.0%.  (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 – 4 new cases overnight, total of 3,367 cases, representing 11.6% of the 29,040 total cases.  No new hospitalizations were reported today among this age group, total of 18 since the outbreak began.  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 remained at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 18 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 27 new cases overnight, total of 16,040 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 55.3% 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 243 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 9 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 – 7 new cases overnight, total of 6,078 cases.  This age group represents 20.9% of the 29,040 total cases.  The County reported 3 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today, a total of 233 reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  2 new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 23 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – 8 new cases overnight, total of 3,544, representing 12.2% of Solano’s 29,040 total cases.  The County reported 3 new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today, a total of 361 hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  4 new deaths were  reported in this age group today.  A total of 108 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 77% of Solano’s 140 total deaths.

City Data

• Benicia added 2 new cases overnight, total of 827 cases since the outbreak began.
• Dixon added 2 new cases overnight, total of 1,701 cases.
• Fairfield added 15 new cases overnight, total of 7,921 cases.
• Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 291 cases.
• Suisun City added 6 new cases overnight, total of 1,965 cases.
• Vacaville added 8 new cases overnight, total of 7,686 cases.
• Vallejo added 13 new cases overnight, total of 8,563 cases.
• Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 86 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 12% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 13% of cases, 21% of hospitalizations, and 13% of deaths.
• Multi-race / Others are 7% of Solano’s population, but account for 35% of cases, 18% of hospitalizations, and 12% of deaths.
• White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 29% of cases, 31% of hospitalizations and 34% of deaths.

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More…

The County’s 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 significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

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