Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Stay Home! The post-Thanksgiving surge in coronavirus is huge here in Solano County

By Roger Straw, December 22, 2020  [Sources: see below.]

Tuesday, December 22: 344 new cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since Feb: 16,568 cases, more than 725 hospitalized, 94 deaths.Compare previous report, Monday, Dec. 21:Summary

    • Solano County reported 344 (!!) new cases overnight, among the highest single-day increases so far.  As of today, Solano has seen an average increase of 323 (!!) new cases per day over the last 14 days! (source: covid19.ca.gov)  Total of 16,568 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 94 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 4 fewer active cases today for a total of 2,183 active cases.  COMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 2,183!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – CAUTION ON SOLANO HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County “occasionally” updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Today, Solano reported that the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized increased by 13, total of 132.  But the County added only 1 previously unreported hospitalization today among the age groups, for a total of 728 persons hospitalized since the outbreak began.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.  For COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported only 10% available today, down from 15% yesterday, and back into the RED DANGER ZONE.  COVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano hospitals had 13 available ICU beds as of yesterday, December 21.  (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.)
    • Testing – The County reports today that 1,228 residents were tested overnight, a total of 157,724 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  35.2% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.
Positive Test Rate – THREAT LEVEL REMAINS HIGH, 19.4%

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test rate today at 19.4%, down slightly from Monday’s 19.6%, and still far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on an alarming rise lately, down slightly from Monday’s 13.3% to 13.1% 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 therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group – Continuing post-Thanksgiving surge in cases in all age groups
  • Youth 17 and under – 47 (!!) new cases today, total of 1,855 cases, representing 11.2% of the 16,568 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 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 plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 168 (!!) new cases today, total of 9,571 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents nearly 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported 1 new hospitalization among persons in this age group today.  A total of 233 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 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 – 97 (!!) new cases today, total of 3,353 cases.  This age group represents just over 20% of the 16,568 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 196 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 16 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 32 (!!) new cases today, total of 1,780, representing 10.7% of Solano’s 16,568 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 282 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 72 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 77% of Solano’s 94 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 9 new cases today, total of 452 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 12 new cases today, total of 1111 cases.
  • Fairfield added 107 (!) new cases today, total of 4,803 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 4 new cases today, total of 137 cases.
  • Suisun City added 21 new cases today, total of 1,162 cases.
  • Vacaville added 90 (!) new cases today, total of 3,822 cases.
  • Vallejo added 101 (!) new cases today, total of 5,020 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 61 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 Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 18% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 21% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 19% of cases, 25% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 28% of cases, 29% of hospitalizations and 33% 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, around 8pm).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  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.