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

Solano County reports 99 new cases of COVID-19 over the weekend

By Roger Straw, Monday, March 8, 2021

COVID is still spreading and dangerous in Solano County – get vaccinated, stay safe! (See Solano vaccine and/or PlanYourVaccine.)

Monday, March 8: 99 new Solano cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since February 2020: 30,404 cases, over 930 hospitalized, 167 deaths.Compare previous report, Friday, March 5:Summary
[See Sources.  Daily archive of BenIndy Solano updates: Excel ARCHIVE. 
    • CASES – Solano County reported 99 new cases overnight, a total of 30,404 cases since the outbreak started.
    • DEATHS – the County reported no new deaths today.  A total of 167 Solano residents have died with COVID since the pandemic began.  In January-February, Solano recorded 66 coronavirus deaths, fully 40% of Solano’s COVID deaths to date!  While many other COVID stats are improving, the recent surge in deaths is no doubt the final sad result of our holiday surge and the Super Bowl.
    • ACTIVE cases – Solano reported 86 fewer active cases today, a total of 190 active cases.  Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases last October was 284, average in November was 650, in December 1,658, in January 2,185, then in February down to 481 and TODAY we are at 190.  Much better – but note that’s still a bunch of contagious folks somewhere among us, nearly 200 of them, hopefully quarantined and staying away from grandma and grandpa!
    • HOSPITALIZATIONS – Today, Solano reported 8 fewer currently hospitalized cases, total of 22.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among the age groups, a total of 930 hospitalized in all age groups since the pandemic began.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.
    • ICU BEDS – In late January, Solano hospitals expanded their ICU capacity.  Even with the expanded ICU capacity, Solano County has continued to fall in and out of the YELLOW DANGER ZONE.  Back in the green zone today, the County reported 38% of ICU beds available today up from 28% Friday. California’s COVID19-CA.GOV reports that Solano County had 15 available ICU beds yesterday, March 7.  (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 72% of ventilators available, same as Friday, and nearing last summer’s reports of 82-94% available.
Positive Test Rate and our Purple/Red Tier rating

Solano County is reporting that our positive test rate today is 6.7%, up from Friday’s 6.2%.  Our 14-day average positive test rate is 6.0% according to my own calculation. The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was at 2.1% today, same as Friday.
>> Tier Rating:  Reports suggest that Solano may move down into the red tier as soon as tomorrow.  Before dropping to a lower tier, the State requires a county to  maintain a positive test rate at or below 8% AND an ADJUSTED case rate at or below 10 new cases per day per 100,000 residents for two consecutive weeks.  Solano’s 14-day average positive test rate meets that standard, at 6.0% by my calculation (and maybe even lower by some formula used by the state), and our adjusted case rate is also within the red tier range, at 7.7 per day over the last two weeks (as of 3/2) according to COVID.CA.GOV.  Recent news is that the state will lower the adjusted case rate standard to 7% soon, which would certainly clinch Solano’s movement to the red tier.

By Age Group
  • Youth 17 and under – 23 new cases overnight, total of 3,561 cases, representing 11.7% of the 30,404 total cases.  No new hospitalizations were reported today among this very young age group, total of 19 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 19 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 52 new cases overnight, total of 16,786 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 55.2% 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 258 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 10 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 – 9 new cases overnight, total of 6,337 cases.  This age group represents 20.9% of the 30,404 total cases.  A hospitalized and deceased member of this age group was moved to the 65+ age group today.  A new total of 248 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Deaths reported in this age group now total 26.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 15 new cases overnight, total of 3,709, representing 12.2% of Solano’s 30,404 total cases.  A hospitalized and deceased member of the 50-64 age group was moved to this 65+ age group today.  A new total of 405 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Deaths reported among our elders in this age group now total 131, accounting for 78% of Solano’s 167 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 2 new cases overnight, total of 859 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon remained steady today, total of 1,768 cases.
  • Fairfield added 45 new cases overnight, total of 8,290 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 332 cases.
  • Suisun City remained steady today, total of 2,054 cases.
  • Vacaville added 22 new cases overnight, total of 7,976 cases.
  • Vallejo added 29 new cases overnight, total of 9,032 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 92 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.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 14% of cases, 15% of hospitalizations, and 19% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 20% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 32% of cases and 30% of hospitalizations, and 18% of deaths.
  • Multi-race / Others are 7% of Solano’s population, but account for 13% of cases, 8% of hospitalizations, and 7% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but account for only 29% of cases, 30% of hospitalizations, and 36% of deaths.
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.

Source
Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today).  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.