Tag Archives: Delta variant

Benicia CA, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Coronavirus, Covid 19, Delta variant

Benicia still registering above CDC’s measure for HIGH TRANSMISSION of COVID-19

Data shows a dip in 7-day COVID case numbers in Benicia, but transmission level still HIGH

By Roger Straw, September 11, 2021

Over the last 7 days, the number of newly reported COVID infections in Benicia fell from an astonishingly high 105 to 43.  This is good news, but Benicia remains substantially over the CDC’s definition of a HIGH level of transmission.

Based on Benicia’s population of roughly 28,000, when Solano County reports 14 or more new Benicia cases over the last 7 days (the red line in the graph above), the CDC classifies us as having a level of “SUBSTANTIAL transmission.”  If we see 28 new cases over the last 7 days (the purple line) we are in an area of “HIGH transmission.” That’s where we were at the County’s most recent report on Friday, with 43 total new cases over the last 7 days.

Benicia entered into substantial transmission on July 12, and high transmission on July 23, with numbers increasing until last Wednesday, September 8.

The daily data is shown in the chart above and also in the table below.

Note that Solano County’s reporting is often tardy, based on tardy reporting from hospitals and the State.  So the massive rise in outbreaks we saw on September 1 could be off some.  But the CDC’s 7-day formula is helpful in mitigating the delays in reporting, similar to taking an average.  Our numbers continue to be at least in the Substantial range, and the numbers are clear evidence of Benicia’s continuing delta surge.

For more, see 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 the most recent Solano County Dashboard.

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

Four dead in So-Lan-O

By Roger Straw, Friday, September 10, 2021
NOTE – This Friday BenIndy report is incomplete due to circumstances beyond my control.  Check back tomorrow, on Saturday, for a my usual in-depth analysis.  – Roger Straw

Friday, September 10: Solano reports 4 dead, 221 new infections and a massive increase in hospitalizations among all ages

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

DEATHS: Four new deaths today, 2 age 50-64 and 2 age 65+.  Total Solano deaths over the course of the pandemic now at 280.

CASES: The County reported  221 new COVID cases in the last two days, 111 per day.

For more, see today’s data in my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet

Check back tomorrow for the usual more complete report.  But for now, I’ll just publish a poem I wrote the last time the County reported 4 new COVID deaths, on July 28, 2021.  Note that today’s 4 new deaths make a total of 31 Solano residents who have died of COVID in the 44 days since July 28….

Four Dead

An old old lyric
Anew now in my head,
‘Four dead in O-Hi-O…’
‘Four dead in O-Hi-O…’

The memory lingers from long ago,
Kent State killings
That stalked my college dorm
Like dragon breath
With mental sirens and communal alarms.

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
Still echo beyond that time,
The truth beneath the number four –
Death comes to families and friends
Unprepared for the brutal end of those we love.

And so now again,
‘Four dead’ –
Yes, Four dead in So-Lan-O
In Solano … our county count
Of newly demised, of COVID dead,
The rising toll over just the last two days.

Two of us of middle age
And two beyond those years,
Succumbed to the suffocation
Of the Delta Death,
News of import and deepening unrest,
Setting off sirens and private and public alarms.

Four dead today
In So-Lan-O.

Roger Straw
July 30, 2021

Continue reading Four dead in So-Lan-O →

Benicia CA, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Coronavirus, Covid 19, Delta variant, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine

ICU beds in Solano County now in red warning zone

By Roger Straw, Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Wednesday, September 8: Solano reports 406 new infections and only 9% of ICU beds available (red warning zone)

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

DEATHS: Good news, no new deaths were reported over the 5-day holiday hiatus.  Total Solano deaths over the course of the pandemic remain at 276.

CASES: The County reported  406 new COVID cases in the last five days, 81 per day, down significantly from last week, but still in the range of last winter’s surge.

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen 1,967 new cases, OVER FOUR TIMES the CDC’s definition of a HIGH rate of transmission.  Based on Solano County population of 449,432, the CDC would rate us in “SUBSTANTIAL” transmission with 225 cases over the last 7 days.  Double that, or 450 cases in the last 7 days would rank us in “HIGH” transmission.  And we are at 1,967 cases as of today!  [Reference: CDC’s level for “High Community Transmission”.]

YOUTH CASES: Case numbers continue to show a startling increase in the percentage of new cases among young persons age 0-17, increasing another tenth of a percent today to a new high of 13.9% of total cases.  The percentage of youth cases increased very, very slowly over the course of the pandemic, starting below 6%, and only gradually reaching 12% in mid-April of 2021.  The percentage of youth cases has jumped a full 0.9% since mid-August.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 813 ACTIVE cases is down sharply from last Friday’s 1,051, but still alarmingly up from 212 on July 2, and in the range we experienced during the deadly surge last winter.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Our 7-day average percent positivity rate was 11.7% today, down from 13.9% on last Friday, but 3.5 times today’s California rate of 3.3% and 1.25 times today’s U.S. rate of 9.4%. [Source: Johns Hopkins]  WARNING: The Delta Variant is here in Solano County and spreading fast.  Time to mask up again – watch out and take care!  

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were down today from 123 to 112 persons, but still in the range we saw during the winter surge.

ICU Bed Availability dropped alarmingly to only 9% of ICU beds available today, in the RED WARNING ZONE.  This is the first time Solano ICU beds were in the red zone since January 27, 2021.

Ventilator Availability was up today from 44% to 51%, but still in the range of last February’s winter surge.

TOTAL hospitalizations  The County’s Monday-Friday dashboard shows an intake/discharge total of CURRENTLY hospitalized cases (above), but never reports on the TOTAL hospitalized 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 updated its Hospitalizations charts today.  See the Age Group chart and the Race / Ethnicity chart below.  Interestingly, the race/ethnicity numbers don’t square with the age group numbers.

FACE MASKS… Good News in Benicia and Vallejo

GOOD NEWS!  Benicia City Council passed a citywide indoors mask mandate. The mandate went into effect immediately and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  The mask resolution, press release, and a flyer now appear on the City website.

Benicia was the first Solano city to take action despite the County’s lack of strong guidance on masks.  Benicia was joined by Vallejo on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against even RECOMMENDING masks in public indoors spaces.  Hopefully, Dr. Matyas will learn from Benicia and Vallejo, and make the necessary difficult decisions, but all reports are that he intends not to do so. 

Please mask indoors in public places now, and maybe even indoors in crowded gatherings at home with vaccinated family and friends!  PLEASE talk to anyone you know who isn’t vaccinated.  This thing ain’t over yet!

Cases by City on Wednesday, September 8:
  • Benicia added 9 new cases today, a total of 1,354 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia has seen 78 new cases over the last 7 days, nearly 3 times the CDC’s definition of HIGH community transmission level based on Benicia population.  [Note that Solano County is also rated in high transmission, and Solano’s 6 other cities are likely also individually experiencing high transmission.]
  • Dixon added 25 new cases today, total of 2,362 cases.
  • Fairfield added 106 new cases today, total of 11,488 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 7 new cases today, total of 533 cases.
  • Suisun City added 34 new cases today, total of 2,989 cases.
  • Vacaville added 115 new cases today, a total of 11,138 cases.
  • Vallejo added 109 new cases today, a total of 12,446 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 1 new case today, a total of 134 cases (population figures not available).

Continue reading ICU beds in Solano County now in red warning zone →

Benicia CA, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Coronavirus, Covid 19, Delta variant, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine

Solano County COVID update: 3 more dead, 517 new cases, community transmission unchecked

By Roger Straw, Friday, September 3, 2021

Friday, September 3: Solano reports 3 COVID deaths again today, and 517 new infections, community transmission rate at 5 times CDC’s HIGH level

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

DEATHS: 3 new deaths were reported today, a total of 10 this week. Today’s deaths included one of us age 18-49 and two 65+.  Today’s deaths included one Black person one White and one Multirace.  Total Solano deaths over the course of the pandemic rose to 276.

CASES: The County reported  517 new COVID cases in the last two days, 259 per day, still in the range of last winter’s surge.

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen 2,238 new cases, FIVE TIMES the CDC’s definition of a HIGH rate of transmission.  Based on Solano County population of 449,432, the CDC would rate us in “SUBSTANTIAL” transmission with only 225 cases over the last 7 days.  Double that, or 450 cases in the last 7 days would rank us in “HIGH” transmission.  And we are at 2,238 cases as of today!  [Reference: CDC’s level for “High Community Transmission”.]

YOUTH CASES: Case numbers also show a startling increase in the percentage of new cases among young persons age 0-17, increasing another tenth of a percent today to a new high of 13.8% of total cases.  That doesn’t sound like much until you consider that the percentage of youth cases increased very, very slowly over the course of the pandemic, starting below 6%, and only gradually reaching 12% in mid-April of 2021.  The percentage of youth cases has jumped a full 0.8% since mid-August.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 1,151 ACTIVE cases is up from Wednesday’s 1,056, and alarmingly up from 212 on July 2, and in the range we experienced during the deadly surge last winter.

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Our 7-day average percent positivity rate was 13.9% today, up slightly from 13.8% on Wednesday, and nearly 4 times today’s California rate of 3.6% and over 1.25 times today’s U.S. rate of 10.5%. [Source: Johns Hopkins]  WARNING: The Delta Variant is here in Solano County and spreading fast.  Time to mask up again – watch out and take care!  

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were down today from 127 to 123 persons, but still in the range we saw during the winter surge.

ICU Bed Availability showed only 20% of ICU beds available today, in the yellow danger zone.  This was up from Wednesday’s 16%, but we’ve not seen rates this low since January 2021.

Ventilator Availability was down today from 51% to 44%, our lowest level since January 28, 2021 and the first time we’ve tipped below 50% since Jan. 29.

TOTAL hospitalizations  The County’s Monday-Friday dashboard shows an intake/discharge total of CURRENTLY hospitalized cases (above), but never reports on the TOTAL hospitalized 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 did not update its Hospitalizations charts today, so our TOTAL hospitalized since the outbreak started at 2,107. 

FACE MASKS… Good News in Benicia

GOOD NEWS!  Last week, Benicia City Council passed a citywide indoors mask mandate. The Council heard opposition from Dr. Bela Matyas, and support from Dr. Bonnie Hamilton.  The public spoke almost entirely in favor of a mandate and included a number of medical professionals.  Councilmembers debated on various finer points, and passed the resolution on a 5-0 vote. The mandate went into effect immediately. Everyone 4 years old and up must now wear a mask indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  The mask resolution, press release, and a flyer now appear on the City website.

Benicia was the first Solano city to take action despite the County’s lack of strong guidance on masks.  Benicia was joined by Vallejo on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against even RECOMMENDING masks in public indoors spaces.  Hopefully, Dr. Matyas will learn from Benicia and Vallejo, and make the necessary difficult decisions, but all reports are that he intends not to do so. 

Please mask indoors in public places now, and maybe even indoors in crowded gatherings at home with vaccinated family and friends!  PLEASE talk to anyone you know who isn’t vaccinated.  This thing ain’t over yet!

Cases by City on Friday, September 3:
  • Benicia added 26 new cases today, a total of 1,345 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia is nearly 4 times the CDC’s definition of HIGH community transmission level (based on Benicia population).  For details see Benicia far exceeding CDC’s measure of HIGH TRANSMISSION of COVID-19.  [Note that Solano County itself is rated in high transmission, and Solano’s 6 other cities are likely also individually experiencing high transmission.]
  • Dixon added 27 new cases today, total of 2,337 cases.
  • Fairfield added 156 new cases today, total of 11,382 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 8 new cases today, total of 526 cases.
  • Suisun City added 34 new cases today, total of 2,955 cases.
  • Vacaville added 131 new cases today, a total of 11,023 cases.
  • Vallejo added 133 new cases today, a total of 12,337 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 2 new cases today, a total of 133 cases (population figures not available).

Continue reading Solano County COVID update: 3 more dead, 517 new cases, community transmission unchecked →