[For a complete archive of day by day data, see my Excel ARCHIVE – R.S.]

Wednesday, September 23: 38 new cases overnight, 3 new deaths.  Since the outbreak started: 6,232 cases, 60 deaths.Compare previous report, Tuesday, Sept 22:Summary

• Solano County reported 38 new cases today, total of 6,232 cases since the outbreak started.  Over the last 2 weeks, Solano reported 454 new cases, average of 32 per day.
• Deaths – 2 new deaths yesterday and another 3 deaths today, total of 60 Solano deaths.
• Active cases – Solano reported 24 additional ACTIVE cases today, total of 244.  Note that only 23 of these 244 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 – UPTICK: the number of currently hospitalized persons increased by only 1 today, total of 23.  However, the total number hospitalized since the outbreak started increased by 19 yesterday and another 27 today, indicating on both days that the number of admissions barely exceeded the number of discharges.  Total hospitalizations now number 383, an increase of 82 in just the last week. (see age group hospitalization stats below).
• ICU Beds –The County reported 52% of ICU beds available, up 7% from 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 335 residents were tested today, new total of 85,685.  Solano has a long way to go: only 19.1% 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 rose from 3.1% yesterday to 3.3% today.  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 third 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 – 9 new cases today, total of 686 cases, representing 10.9% of the 6,232 total cases.  No new hospitalizations among this age group today, a total of 6 hospitalizations since the outbreak began, including 1 just yesterday.  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 – 21 new cases today, total of 3,738 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 10 new hospitalizations and 9 yesterday in this age group today, total of 127 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  1 new death in this young age group today (!), new 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 – 4 new cases today, total of 1,190 cases.  This age group represents 19.1% of the 6,232 total cases.
  7 new hospitalizations today, total of 104 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 11 deaths.
• Persons 65 years or older – Last week Monday, I reported Solano’s LARGEST SINGLE WEEKEND INCREASES in this age group since I began keeping records on April 20: 31 new cases, 3 new hospitalizations and 2 deaths.  Today the County reported 4 new cases, total of 617, 9 new hospitalizations, total of 146, and 2 new deaths, total of 44 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 617 cases represent 9.9% of the 6,232 total cases.  In this older age group, 24% of cases required hospitalization at one time.  This group accounts for 44 of the 60 deaths, or 73%.

City Data

• Benicia added 1 new case today, total of 164 cases since the outbreak began.
• Dixon remained steady today, total of 410 cases.
• Fairfield added 13 new cases today, total of 2,035 cases.
• Rio Vista added 2 new cases today, total of 47 cases.
• Suisun City added 3 new cases today, total of 453 cases.
• Vacaville added 9 new cases today, total of 1,043 cases.
• Vallejo added 10 new cases today, total of 2,060 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 17% of hospitalizations, and 23% of deaths.
• Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 31% of cases, 31% of hospitalizations, and 25% of deaths.
• White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 21% of cases, 25% of hospitalizations and 21% 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.