Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Delta variant, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine

Solano County reports shocking new numbers on Wednesday July 28

By Roger Straw, Wednesday, July 28, 2021

County reports 4 deaths and 710 new hospitalizations!  Test positivity nears 20%.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Deaths

Solano reported four new deaths today, two age 50-64 and two 65+.  June deaths were only 2, and prior to today only 1 death was reported in July, so this is a dramatic turn.  The County total is now 249 deaths since the pandemic began.

TREND: Cases-per-day dramatically up in July

Solano County is clearly experiencing a “summer surge” in cases.  The County reported  221 new COVID cases since Monday, 110 per day!  Cases-per-day were trending downward in recent months, but are now rising rapidly, especially over the last week:

Solano’s 831 ACTIVE cases is up dramatically from last Friday’s remarkable high of 647, higher than anything since February 11, 2021.  Active cases have risen alarmingly in July, up from 212 cases on July 2 to today’s 831.

Solano Positive Test Rate INCREDIBLY HIGH – much higher than US & CA!

Our 7-day average percent positivity rate was up alarmingly again today from a shocking 16.8% on Monday to an even more surprising 19.1% today, the County’s highest rate since January 25, 2021.  We would be decidedly back in the PURPLE TIER with rates this high.  COMPARE: The US 7-day % positive rate today is at 5.9%, and the California rate is 4.4%. [Source: Johns Hopkins]  This thing is on fire here – watch out and take care!

Hospitalizations – County provides MAJOR update of previously unreported hospitalizations

CURRENT hospitalizations jumped today from 45 to 51 persons.   ICU beds and ventilators remained about the same today, beds at 32% and ventilators at 68.

TOTAL hospitalized – The County’s Monday-Friday updates show an intake/discharge total of CURRENTLY hospitalized cases, but never report on the CUMULATIVE TOTAL of hospitalized COVID patients over the course of the pandemic.  That total must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of the Hospitalizations by Age Group chart.  The County performed a MAJOR UPDATE of the Hospitalizations by Age Group chart today, adding 710 previously unreported hospitalizations!  We now know of

    • 9 more children age 0-17 who were hospitalized with COVID since the County’s end-of-June update;
    • 253 additional young adults age 18-49;
    • another 200 aged 50-64;
    • and 248 more of our elders 65 and older.

No telling exactly WHEN these newly reported hospitalizations occurred – probably not all in July.  The Age Group chart now shows a total of 2,019 persons hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak, in the following age groups:

Age Group Hospitalizations % of Total
0-17 36 2%
18-49 580 29%
50-64 542 27%
65+ 861 43%
TOTAL 2,019 100%

Hospitalizations are also recorded on the County’s demographic chart labeled “Hospitalizations by Race / Ethnicity.”  The chart was updated today, adding 138 Asians, 127 Blacks, 221 Hispanics, 208 Whites, and subtracting 3 from the Multirace group.  Here are the current numbers.  Interestingly, the total doesn’t square with totals by age groups.

Race / Ethnicity Hospitalizations % of Total
Asians 322 17% (up 2%)
Black / African American 327 17% (up 1%)
Hispanic / Latinx 548 29% (up 2%)
White 614 32%  (down 2%)
Multirace / Others 83 4% (down 3%)
TOTAL 1,894 100%
New State Guidelines…

COVID is clearly spreading again and surging in Solano County!  Today California also issued new Guidance for the Use of Face Coverings.  The new guidelines include a recommendation for universal masking indoors statewide, adding of Adult and Senior Care Facilities to settings where all individuals must wear masks indoors, and a reference to new requirements for unvaccinated workers.  Some California counties are returning to mandatory masks for all in crowded places.  In the Bay Area, Solano County is the only holdout against even RECOMMENDING masks in public indoors spaces.  Dr. Matyas needs to make some difficult decisions soon!

SUMMER SURGE – Masks, Social Distancing & Vaccination

My personal plan is to mask indoors in public even though I’m vaccinated, and I’d recommend it for you, too.  Everyone talk to anyone you know who isn’t vaccinated.  This thing ain’t over yet!

Cases by City on Wednesday, July 28:
  • Benicia added 10 new cases today, a total of 1,102 cases since the outbreak began, 4.0% of its population of 27,570.
  • Dixon added 10 new case today, total of 2,007 cases, 10.1% of its population of 19,794.
  • Fairfield added 67 new cases today, total of 9,627 cases, 8.2% of its population of 117,149.
  • Rio Vista added 3 new cases today, total of 424 cases, 4.5% of its population of 9,416.
  • Suisun City added 25 new cases today, total of 2,512 cases, 8.5% of its population of 29,447.
  • Vacaville added 48 new cases today, a total of 9,389 cases, 9.5% its of population of 98,807.
  • Vallejo added 57 new cases today, a total of 10,533 cases, 8.8% of its population of 119,544.
  • Unincorporated added 1 new case today, a total of 109 cases (population figures not available).

COMPARE: From the most recent report on Solano County’s COVID Dashboard, Monday, July 26:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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