Solano County reports 102 new infections over last weekend, 85 more today

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

By Roger Straw, Wednesday, November 3, 2021  [Note:  Monday’s Solano dashboard did not report details on cases by city and by age, but I was able to get them directly by email. Today’s numbers take account of the previously missing data.  Complete numbers for Monday can be found on my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).  ANOTHER NOTE:  Be aware that the Benicia City Council may weaken its mask mandate on Nov. 16 – click here to scroll down.  – R.S.]

Wednesday, November 3: Solano County reports 85 new infections since Monday, remains in SUBSTANTIAL rate of transmission. Solano Public Health has not updated the public on COVID hospitalization details since October 15.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: Solano reported no new COVID-related deaths today.  The County reported 27 COVID deaths in September, 18 in October.  A total of 315 Solano residents have died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES: The County reported 85 new COVID cases since Monday. AGES: 17 of these 85 cases were youth and children under 18.  44 were age 18-49, 17 were age 50-64, and 7 were 65+.

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen SUBSTANTIAL community transmission, with 350 new cases (up from 321 on Monday).  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 cases in 7 days would move Solano up into the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate, and we will need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 396 ACTIVE cases, up substantially from Monday’s 284, and still far above our summer rates.

CASES BY CITY on Wednesday, November 3:

  • Benicia added only 2 new cases today, a total of 1,543 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia remains in the SUBSTANTIAL range of community transmission with 20 new cases over the last 7 days. (SUBSTANTIAL is defined as 14 or more cases, based on Benicia population – SEE CHART BELOW).  Benicia will need to maintain fewer than 14 new cases per 7 days for 30 consecutive days before relaxing the mask mandate.  [Note above that Solano County is currently experiencing SUBSTANTIAL transmission.

  • Dixon added 7 new cases today, total of 2,550 cases.
  • Fairfield added 21 new cases today, total of 12,311 cases.
  • Rio Vista reported at 1 new case today, total of 613 cases.
  • Suisun City added 0 new cases today, total of 3,248 cases.
  • Vacaville added 33 new cases today, a total of 12,081 cases.
  • Vallejo added 21 new cases today, a total of 13,423 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 140 cases.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Solano’s 7-day percent positivity rate was 5.5% today, up slightly from Monday’s 5.4%.  COMPARE: Today’s California rate is 1.8%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  Today’s U.S. rate is 4.85%. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.]

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were down today from 36 to 32 persons, but still far above the range we saw during last summer.

ICU Bed Availability is only 22% today, down from 33% on Monday, and back in the YELLOW danger zone.  We remain in the worrisome range we saw during last winter’s surge.

Ventilator Availability today fell from 68% to 64%

TOTAL hospitalizations: Solano County’s TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  The County did not update its hospitalizations charts again today.  Solano Public Health has not informed the public on COVID hospitalizations since October 15!  Total COVID hospitalizations in Solano remain at 2,838 since the beginning of the outbreak.

ALERT! Benicia’s mask mandate may be weakened by City Council on Nov 16

On Tuesday, October 19, Benicia City Council reviewed our CDC-defined 7-day community transmission rate for September-October, which has yet to dip below the SUBSTANTIAL level.  Because of this poor data and according to City Resolution 21-88, Council left in place Benicia’s citywide indoors mask mandate for now.  The mandate went into effect on August 24 and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  On Oct. 19, Councilmember Largaespada convinced other Councilmembers and staff to bring consideration of amending the mandate back to Council on November 16.  Largaespada suggested amendments that could weaken the mandate with various exceptions, possibly including no indoor mask requirements in restaurants, bars and gyms.  Largaespada would “Limit the mask mandate to the most essential businesses in town.”  He added that groceries, pharmacies, banks and City Hall might be considered essential.

Vallejo also passed an indoors mask mandate on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against a mask mandate for public indoors spaces.

SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS failed to consider an agendized proposal for a countywide MASK MANDATE on Tuesday, September 14.  Recent Bay Area news put Solano in a sad light: all other county health officers issued a joint statement offering details on when they would be able to lift mask mandates (not likely soon).  TV news anchors had to point out that Solano would not be considering such a move since our health officer had not been able to “justify” a mask mandate in the first place.  The Solano Board of Supervisors has joined with Dr. Bela Matyas in officially showing poor leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic.


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


Sources