[For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE – R.S.] [Please note that some of the numbers of new deaths and hospitalizations this past week may not actually be new.  The Fairfield Daily Reporter, quoting Dr. Matyas, is reported that some of the deaths reported Wednesday were updating discrepancies in reporting from last summer.  Dr. Matyas confirmed in an email to me on Thursday that some of the spike in hospitalizations are also adjustments rather than new hospitalizations.  No information as yet as to how many are new and how many are old.  Regardless, these illnesses and deaths are still serious, sad and disturbing…  – R.S.]

Friday, September 25: 31 new cases overnight, 5 hospitalizations, no deaths.  Since the outbreak began: 6,309 cases, 389 hospitalized, 63 deaths.Compare previous report, Thursday, Sept 24:Summary

• Solano County reported 31 new cases today, total of 6,309 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 7 days, Solano reported 224 new cases, average of 32 per day.
• Deaths – RECENT SPIKE: 3 new deaths reported yesterday, 3 the day before, and another 2 the day before that, total of 63 Solano deaths.  Thankfully, no new deaths reported today.
• Active cases – Solano reported 7 fewer ACTIVE cases today, total of 269.  Note that only 21 of these 269 people are hospitalized, so there are a lot of infected folks out among us, hopefully quarantined.  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano County has offered no reports on contact tracing.
• Hospitalizations – the number of currently hospitalized persons remained at 21 today.  However, the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started increased by 5 today, total of 389, an increase of 73 in just the last week. (see age group hospitalization stats below).
• ICU Beds –The County reported 50% of ICU beds available, same as yesterday and down from 56% a  week ago Monday.  (After 7 weeks, still no information about availability of ventilators.)
• Testing – The County reports today that 591 residents were tested today, new total of 86,789.  Solano has a long way to go: only 19.4% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate

Solano County reported today that our 7-day average test rate remained steady today at 3.9%.  Our supposedly smooth 7-day moving average has jumped all over the place recently (see note about delayed adjustments below).  For the record, just two weeks ago we saw Solano rates above 7% for the first time since we peaked at 9.3% on July 22.  Week before last we bottomed out at 2.7%.  The County’s line graph for positive test rate looks like a flat line and tells us absolutely nothing, not worth posting here.  Health officials and news reports focus on percent positive test rates as one of the best metrics for measuring the spread of the virus.  The much more stable California’s relatively stable 7-day test rate remained at it’s lowest point, 2.8% for the 5th consecutive day today.  (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 also lags behind current unknown results.) 

By Age Group

• Youth 17 and under – 5 new cases today, total of 701 cases, representing 11.1% of the 6,309 total cases.  No new hospitalizations among this age group today, a total of 6 hospitalizations since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths.  In recent weeks it seems too many youth are ignoring public health orders.  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 around 11% since then.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11% may seem low.  The significance is this: 1) youth numbers have increased steadily and at a faster rate than the other age groups, and 2) youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact 6 youth have now been hospitalized.
• Persons 18-49 years of age – 20 new cases today, total of 3,783 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 2 new hospitalizations in this age group today, total of 129 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young age group today, total of 5 deaths.  Some in this group are surely ignoring public health orders, and many are providing essential services among us.  I expect his group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
• Persons 50-64 years of age – 3 new cases today, total of 1,197 cases.  This age group represents 19% of the 6,309 total cases.
  No new hospitalizations today, total of 104 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 13 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – Today the County reported 3 new cases, total of 627, 3 new hospitalizations, total of 150.  Thankfully, no new deaths, total of 45 of our elders who died of COVID.  Much of the recent spike in this age group may be related to an outbreak at the Parkrose Gardens Alzheimer’s and Dementia care facility in Fairfield, where 31 patients and 8 staff were reported on September 15 to have tested positive.  This age group’s 627 cases represent 9.9% of the 6,309 total cases.  In this older age group, 23.9% of cases required hospitalization at one time.  This group accounts for 45 of the 63 deaths, or 71%.

City Data

• Benicia remained steady today, total of 165 cases since the outbreak began.
• Dixon remained steady today, total of 413 cases.
• Fairfield added 5 new cases today, total of 2,056 cases.
• Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 48 cases.
• Suisun City added 3 new cases today, total of 461 cases.
• Vacaville added 4 new cases today, total of 1,056 cases.
• Vallejo added 19 new cases today, total of 2,090 cases.
• Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 20 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 Latinex members of our communities.

• Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 9% of cases, 11% of hospitalizations, and 19% of deaths.
• Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 18% of hospitalizations, and 24% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 31% of cases, 30% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
• White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 21% of cases, 26% of hospitalizations and 25% of deaths.

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.