Tag Archives: Benicia CA

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano sees 107 new COVID infections, percentage of children and youth steadily increasing.

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  CLICK HERE for today’s latest information.
By Roger Straw, Friday, November 12, 2021  [Note:  Be aware that the Benicia City Council may weaken its mask mandate on Nov. 16 – click here to scroll down.  – R.S.]

Friday, November 12: Solano County reports 107 new infections in last 2 days, remains in SUBSTANTIAL rate of transmission. Presenting today: Case rate percentages by age groups.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: Solano reported no new COVID-related deaths today.  The County reported 27 COVID deaths in September, 18 in October, and good news: NONE since October 18.  Bad news: a total of 315 Solano residents have died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES: The County reported 107 new COVID cases since Wednesday.  CASES BY AGE GROUP: 30 of these 107 cases (28%) were youth and children under 18.  55 were age 18-49, 15 were age 50-64, and only 7 were 65+.  Below is my color-coded analysis of cases reported by age group, as a percentage of total cases.  I am showing increases in red and decreases in green as reported by Solano County since April of 2020.  Note  the steady increase among children and youth of Solano County.  The population of those age 0-17 in Solano County is roughly 22%.COMPARE: U.S. cases among age 0-17 as percentage of total cases is at 15.7% as of today. (From the CDC covid-data-tracker.)

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen SUBSTANTIAL community transmission, with 275 new cases (up from 242 on Wednesday).  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 cases in 7 days would move Solano up into the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate, and we will need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 363 ACTIVE cases is up substantially from Wednesday’s 316, and still far above our summer rates.

CASES BY CITY on Friday, November 12:

  • Benicia added 5 new cases today, a total of 1,559 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia remained in the MODERATE range of community transmission with ONLY 7 new cases over the last 7 days. Benicia has now seen MODERATE 7-day spread for 4 consecutive Solano updates (9 days) – SEE CHART BELOW.  MODERATE is defined as less than 14 cases, based on Benicia population.  Benicia will need to maintain fewer than 14 new cases per 7 days for 30 consecutive days before relaxing the mask mandate.  [Note above that Solano County is currently experiencing SUBSTANTIAL transmission.

  • Dixon added 4 new cases today, total of 2,563 cases.
  • Fairfield added 23 new cases today, total of 12,403 cases.
  • Rio Vista reported 2 new cases today, total of 621 cases.
  • Suisun City added 8 new cases today, total of 3,267 cases.
  • Vacaville added 37 new cases today, a total of 12,182 cases.
  • Vallejo added 28 new cases today, a total of 13,522 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 141 cases.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Solano’s 7-day percent positivity rate was 4.5% today, unchanged since Monday.  COMPARE: Today’s California rate is 1.9%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  Today’s U.S. rate is 5.43%. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were up today from 32 to 35 persons, still far above the range we saw during last summer.

TOTAL hospitalizations: Solano County’s TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  Solano Public Health did not update its age and race hospitalizations charts today.  Solano hospitals have admitted a TOTAL of 2,990 COVID patients since the beginning of the outbreak.

ICU Bed Availability is 27% today, down from 28% on Wednesday, in the YELLOW DANGER zone.  We remain in the worrisome range we saw during last winter’s surge.

Ventilator Availability today rose today from 60% to 65%.

ALERT! Benicia’s mask mandate may be weakened by City Council next Tuesday, Nov 16  – See: “Update on Face Coverings Mandate” Benicia City Council Agenda, Item 21.A, on page 9)

On Tuesday, October 19, Benicia City Council reviewed our CDC-defined 7-day community transmission rate for September-October, which has yet to dip below the SUBSTANTIAL level.  Because of this poor data and according to City Resolution 21-88, Council left in place Benicia’s citywide indoors mask mandate for now.  The mandate went into effect on August 24 and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  On Oct. 19, Councilmember Largaespada convinced other Councilmembers and staff to bring consideration of amending the mandate back to Council on November 16 – see Agenda, p. 9.  Largaespada suggested amendments that could weaken the mandate with various exceptions, possibly including no indoor mask requirements in restaurants, bars and gyms.  Largaespada would “Limit the mask mandate to the most essential businesses in town.”  He added that groceries, pharmacies, banks and City Hall might be considered essential.

Vallejo also passed an indoors mask mandate on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against a mask mandate for public indoors spaces.

SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS failed to consider an agendized proposal for a countywide MASK MANDATE on Tuesday, September 14.  Recent Bay Area news put Solano in a sad light: all other county health officers issued a joint statement offering details on when they would be able to lift mask mandates (not likely soon).  TV news anchors had to point out that Solano would not be considering such a move since our health officer had not been able to “justify” a mask mandate in the first place.  The Solano Board of Supervisors has joined with Dr. Bela Matyas in officially showing poor leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic.

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 on my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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
#BBLM, #BlackLivesMatter, Anti-racism, Benicia Black Lives Matter, Benicia CA, Police misconduct, Police reform, Police violence, Racism

Latest ‘Our Voices’ – First-hand Witness to Racial Profiling and Police Injustice


BENICIA BLACK LIVES MATTER
…OUR VOICES…

From BeniciaBlackLivesMatter.com
[See also: About BBLM]

“As a young woman, I was a first-hand witness to racial profiling and police injustice. It irrevocably changed my perspective about law enforcement…”

November 8, 2021

74 year old white woman
Benicia resident for 6 years

I was born and raised in the Bay Area. When I was a young woman, it was an exciting time. It was a time of activism. Anti-war protests and the Civil and Women’s Rights movements were powerful and seemed to be changing the shape of the future as I watched with fascination and anticipation. The world was becoming a better place for the young and the historically disenfranchised. I was looking forward to a more equitable world, and I considered myself to be part of this change. I was optimistic, energetic, educated, and ready to roll up my sleeves.

In 1972, I was an art teacher at Lincoln High School, which is in a very integrated part of San Jose. The school saw their multi-ethnic student and family population as an opportunity to build a mutually respectful and open community, and racial problems were rare if present at all. That year, the YMCA leased an old three story mansion right behind my school and opened up a Youth Center. I was offered the directorship, and I enthusiastically accepted. It didn’t matter to me that I was working two full time jobs. I was in my early 20’s with lots of energy. It was meaningful work, and I was ready to take on the world.

The Teen Center was a fun place for kids to hang out after school. The old building had lots of passageways and interesting spaces to explore. We put a pool table in the old formal dining room. Kids and adults worked together to fix up the old place with donated paint, hammers and gardening tools. After school was out, the music came on, and the Center became a place of youthful activity. My job was wonderful. I walked around making sure things were flowing and that the staff and students were engaged in healthy activities. When adolescent tempers flared, I was on hand to redirect and facilitate a peaceful conclusion.

And then one afternoon, my ideals were shattered. It was around 4pm when a group of 8-10 of my teenage boys got into an argument on the front lawn that escalated quickly. By the time I got to the scene, it had turned into a fist fight. It was very public and very loud. The boys were all around 16 and 17 years old and were nearly adult sized. They were of mixed ethnicities, and, although I don’t remember the precipitating cause, it was not about race. Of that I am certain.

I had been ineffectively trying to de-escalate the energy for about 15 minutes when the police showed up. Apparently, a concerned neighbor had called upon hearing or witnessing the scene. The two police officers who pulled up were white. They didn’t ask any questions. They pushed me aside and ignored my protestations. They simply pulled their guns and ordered the Black kids – not the white kids – to back down. When that didn’t happen immediately, they threatened to shoot. The boys, still wrapped up in their argument, kept fighting even after the guns were drawn and they were being threatened. I don’t even think they noticed. Then a shot was fired, and one of my kids went down. He was one of the Black students. The fighting abruptly stopped.

I was in shock. I watched in disbelief as the officers took a report, primarily calling out the Black youths who were part of the fight. An ambulance was called, and my injured student was taken away. He died later that day.

This was a fight that I am certain I could have eventually stopped. It was a fist fight, one without weapons. This was the kind of fight that hormonally charged teenage boys typically engage in and then it’s over. No one was going to be seriously hurt. No property was being damaged. No outside parties were involved. No one’s life was in danger. Not until the police showed up.

This was the first time I witnessed abject racial targeting by law enforcement. Although it was and tragically is still a common experience, as white woman I had not been privy to the blatant imbalance of justice until that moment. All of the boys in the fight were equally involved. Less than half of them were of Color, and yet, it was Black ones who were in the sights of the officers’ guns. It was the Black boys who were blamed. And it was the Black kids who suffered the consequences. No charges were levied at these officers. The family of the boy who was killed suffered their pain quietly and without protest. I sat with the family and did an announcement and an article for the school, but no more came of it. The community mourned, and then it was over. I lost my enthusiasm for the job and moved on when my contract was up. Teen Center eventually closed and the building was razed.

Today, we recognize and challenge the prejudices of law enforcement, the injustices of the racial profiling, and the “shoot first, ask questions later” attitude of some of our law enforcement agents. I’m glad to see a movement towards better police training, integration of social services, more conscientious use of weapons, and oversight over law enforcement agencies, but we have a long way to go. My fifty year old memory of watching helplessly as a young man, for whom I was responsible, was killed just because he was involved in a teenage scuffle and his skin happened to be Black. It has left an indelible imprint upon my soul.

Previous ‘Our Voices’ stories here on the BenIndy at
Benicia Black Lives Matter – Our Voices
     or on the BBLM website at
beniciablacklivesmatter.weebly.com/ourvoices

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano County reports 69 new infections, City of Benicia posts agenda for amending mask mandate

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  CLICK HERE for today’s latest information.
By Roger Straw, Wednesday, November 10, 2021  [Note:  Be aware that the Benicia City Council may weaken its mask mandate on Nov. 16 – click here to scroll down.  – R.S.]

Wednesday, November 10: Solano County reports 69 new infections in last 2 days, remains in SUBSTANTIAL rate of transmission.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: Solano reported no new COVID-related deaths today.  The County reported 27 COVID deaths in September, 18 in October, and good news: NONE since October 18.  Bad news: a total of 315 Solano residents have died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES: The County reported 69 new COVID cases since Monday. AGES: 11 of these 69 cases were youth and children under 18.  38 were age 18-49, 14 were age 50-64, and only 6 were 65+.  Thankfully, last Friday’s uptick in the number of seniors (8.5 per day) was very shortlived.

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen SUBSTANTIAL community transmission, with 242 new cases (down from 258 on Monday).  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 cases in 7 days would move Solano up into the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate, and we will need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 316 ACTIVE cases is down substantially from Monday’s 332, but still far above our summer rates.

CASES BY CITY on Wednesday, November 10:

  • Benicia added 4 new cases today, a total of 1,554 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia remained in the MODERATE range of community transmission with ONLY 11 new cases over the last 7 days. Benicia has now seen MODERATE 7-day spread for 3 consecutive Solano updates (7 days) – SEE CHART BELOW.  MODERATE is defined as less than 14 cases, based on Benicia population.  Benicia will need to maintain fewer than 14 new cases per 7 days for 30 consecutive days before relaxing the mask mandate.  [Note above that Solano County is currently experiencing SUBSTANTIAL transmission.

  • Dixon added 0 new cases today, total of 2,559 cases.
  • Fairfield added 17 new cases today, total of 12,380 cases.
  • Rio Vista reported 3 new cases today, total of 619 cases.
  • Suisun City added 3 new cases today, total of 3,259 cases.
  • Vacaville added 17 new cases today, a total of 12,145 cases.
  • Vallejo added 24 new cases today, a total of 13,494 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 1 new case today, a total of 141 cases.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Solano’s 7-day percent positivity rate was 4.5% today, unchanged from Monday’s rate.  COMPARE: Today’s California rate is 1.9%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  Today’s U.S. rate is 5.2%. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were down today from 34 to 32 persons, but still far above the range we saw during last summer.

TOTAL hospitalizations: Solano County’s TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  Solano Public Health did not update its age and race hospitalizations charts today.  Solano hospitals have admitted a TOTAL of 2,990 COVID patients since the beginning of the outbreak.  (Data on age is more reliable than that on race/ethnicity.)

ICU Bed Availability is 28% today, down from 35% on Monday, moving back into the YELLOW DANGER zone.  We remain in the worrisome range we saw during last winter’s surge.

Ventilator Availability today fell today from 69% to 60%.

ALERT! Benicia’s mask mandate may be weakened by City Council next Tuesday, Nov 16  – See: “Update on Face Coverings Mandate” Benicia City Council Agenda, Item 21.A, on page 9)

On Tuesday, October 19, Benicia City Council reviewed our CDC-defined 7-day community transmission rate for September-October, which has yet to dip below the SUBSTANTIAL level.  Because of this poor data and according to City Resolution 21-88, Council left in place Benicia’s citywide indoors mask mandate for now.  The mandate went into effect on August 24 and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  On Oct. 19, Councilmember Largaespada convinced other Councilmembers and staff to bring consideration of amending the mandate back to Council on November 16 – see Agenda, p. 9.  Largaespada suggested amendments that could weaken the mandate with various exceptions, possibly including no indoor mask requirements in restaurants, bars and gyms.  Largaespada would “Limit the mask mandate to the most essential businesses in town.”  He added that groceries, pharmacies, banks and City Hall might be considered essential.

Vallejo also passed an indoors mask mandate on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against a mask mandate for public indoors spaces.

SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS failed to consider an agendized proposal for a countywide MASK MANDATE on Tuesday, September 14.  Recent Bay Area news put Solano in a sad light: all other county health officers issued a joint statement offering details on when they would be able to lift mask mandates (not likely soon).  TV news anchors had to point out that Solano would not be considering such a move since our health officer had not been able to “justify” a mask mandate in the first place.  The Solano Board of Supervisors has joined with Dr. Bela Matyas in officially showing poor leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic.

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 on my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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
#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano County reports 99 new infections, adds 152 previously unreported hospitalizations

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  CLICK HERE for today’s latest information.
By Roger Straw, Monday, November 8, 2021  [Note:  Be aware that the Benicia City Council may weaken its mask mandate on Nov. 16 – click here to scroll down.  – R.S.]

Monday, November 8: Solano County reports 99 new infections over the weekend, remains in SUBSTANTIAL rate of transmission. Solano Public Health updated hospitalization details (age and race), adding 152 new hospitalizations since October 15, pandemic total nearing 3,000.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: Solano reported no new COVID-related deaths today.  The County reported 27 COVID deaths in September, 18 in October, and good news: NONE since October 18.  Bad news: a total of 315 Solano residents have died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES: The County reported 99 new COVID cases over the weekend. AGES: 26 of these 99 cases were youth and children under 18.  51 were age 18-49, 17 were age 50-64, and only 5 were 65+.  Thankfully, Friday’s uptick in the number of seniors (8.5 per day) was very shortlived.

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen SUBSTANTIAL community transmission, with 258 new cases (down slightly from 261 on Friday).  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 cases in 7 days would move Solano up into the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate, and we will need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 332 ACTIVE cases is down substantially from Friday’s 394, but still far above our summer rates.

CASES BY CITY on Monday, November 8:

  • Benicia added 3 new cases today, a total of 1,550 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia remained in the MODERATE range of community transmission with ONLY 9 new cases over the last 7 days. This is the first time Benicia has seen MODERATE 7-day spread for 2 consecutive Solano updates since July 9.  (MODERATE is defined as less than 14 cases, based on Benicia population – SEE CHART BELOW).  Benicia will need to maintain fewer than 14 new cases per 7 days for 30 consecutive days before relaxing the mask mandate.  [Note above that Solano County is currently experiencing SUBSTANTIAL transmission.

  • Dixon added 3 new cases today, total of 2,559 cases.
  • Fairfield added 37 new cases today, total of 12,363 cases.
  • Rio Vista reported 2 new cases today, total of 616 cases.
  • Suisun City added 2 new cases today, total of 3,256 cases.
  • Vacaville added 24 new cases today, a total of 12,128 cases.
  • Vallejo added 28 new cases today, a total of 13,470 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 140 cases.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Solano’s 7-day percent positivity rate was 4.5% today, down from Friday’s 4.8%.  COMPARE: Today’s California rate is 1.9%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  Today’s U.S. rate is 5.55%. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were down today from 35 to 34 persons, but still far above the range we saw during last summer.

TOTAL hospitalizations: Solano County’s TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  Solano Public Health updated its age and race hospitalizations charts today for the first time since October 15.  Total COVID hospitalizations in Solano increased by 152 in the past 25 days, just over 6 new hospitalizations every day.  Solano hospitals have admitted a TOTAL of 2,990 COVID patients since the beginning of the outbreak.  (Data on age is more reliable than that on race/ethnicity.)

ICU Bed Availability is 35% today, up from 30% on Friday, moving into the GREEN zone.  We remain in the worrisome range we saw during last winter’s surge.

Ventilator Availability today rose from 67% to 69%.

ALERT! Benicia’s mask mandate may be weakened by City Council on Nov 16

On Tuesday, October 19, Benicia City Council reviewed our CDC-defined 7-day community transmission rate for September-October, which has yet to dip below the SUBSTANTIAL level.  Because of this poor data and according to City Resolution 21-88, Council left in place Benicia’s citywide indoors mask mandate for now.  The mandate went into effect on August 24 and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  On Oct. 19, Councilmember Largaespada convinced other Councilmembers and staff to bring consideration of amending the mandate back to Council on November 16.  Largaespada suggested amendments that could weaken the mandate with various exceptions, possibly including no indoor mask requirements in restaurants, bars and gyms.  Largaespada would “Limit the mask mandate to the most essential businesses in town.”  He added that groceries, pharmacies, banks and City Hall might be considered essential.

Vallejo also passed an indoors mask mandate on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against a mask mandate for public indoors spaces.

SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS failed to consider an agendized proposal for a countywide MASK MANDATE on Tuesday, September 14.  Recent Bay Area news put Solano in a sad light: all other county health officers issued a joint statement offering details on when they would be able to lift mask mandates (not likely soon).  TV news anchors had to point out that Solano would not be considering such a move since our health officer had not been able to “justify” a mask mandate in the first place.  The Solano Board of Supervisors has joined with Dr. Bela Matyas in officially showing poor leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic.

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 on my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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