Tag Archives: Solano County CA

#Masks4All, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Mandatory face coverings, Solano County CA, Youth

Coronavirus live updates: Solano youth infected at much higher percentage than nationally

3 important stories from the SF Chronicle’s Coronavirus Live Updates

A medical worker collects a sample to test for the coronavirus at CityTestSF in San Francisco. People around the world believe they have gotten sick despite testing negative.

San Francisco Chronicle, by Alejandro Serrano , Anna Bauman , Rita Beamish and Brett Simpson, updated June 18, 2020

7:58 p.m. June 17, 2020 – Solano County case spike reflects ‘preliminarily positive’ data, official says: Solano County reporting 105 new confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday reflects a change in data reporting and a local outbreak among vineyard workers, county public health administrator Jayleen Richards wrote in an email. The new cases marked a 15.2% increase in Solano County’s total. Richards wrote the county has experienced “significant” delays in confirming results from two state-run test sites and has begun considering preliminary positive tests as positive cases in order to begin case investigations. “The data jump should be a one-time event since we started to include the preliminary data today,” Richards wrote. Wednesday’s case total also includes an outbreak among vineyard workers housed in Solano County and working in other counties who were recently tested for the virus, Richards wrote.

12:12 p.m. June 18, 2020 – Californians must wear masks outside home under new state order: People must immediately begin wearing masks outside the home when they cannot safely distance from other people to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, state health officials ordered Thursday, a day after reporting the largest number of new cases in a single day. The Chronicle’s Alexei Koseff reports.

June 18, 2020 1:35 p.m. – Kids and teenagers appear to be less likely to get the coronavirus and get sick than adults: A study recently published in Nature found that those under 20 are half as susceptible to infection as those that age or older, and only one in five between the ages of 10 and 19 show symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the figure of coronavirus-infected kids younger than 18 at more than 90,000, or around 4% of those with the disease. [BenIndy Editor: Compare at 6.6% in Solano County as of June 17.]  See our detailed FAQ on the coronavirus and children for more.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Solano County COVID Case Count Rises 15% In One Day; Health Officer Blames Protests, Social Gatherings

While much of the nine-county Bay Area has seen fairly steady and minimal growth in the cumulative number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, Solano County just recorded its single biggest one-day jump in cases.

Solano County Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas
SFiST, by Jay Barmann, June 18, 2020

On Wednesday, Solano County added 105 new cases to its tally, a rise of 15 percent for a cumulative total of 792. The county’s Daily Republic newspaper spoke to Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas explains that the jump reflects a backlog of suspected cases under investigation which he decided to add to the total yesterday. And he suggests that while there is “no evidence” to suggest that the reopening of restaurants and other businesses is to blame for the uptick, he betrays a bit of trepidation about how the public is handling the reopening in the county.

“When I drive around town, I get the sense that it is pre-COVID,” he tells the paper, noting that he sees a lot of social gatherings happening without precautions.

Matyas blames those gatherings along with recent protest marches and a group of cases that originated in vineyards across the county line in Napa for the uptick in confirmed cases.

46 of the new cases were found in Fairfield — where, according to Matyas, many of the infected vineyard workers live — and 34 cases were found in Vallejo, where a week of sometimes violent protests rocked the city two weeks ago. Overall, Vallejo has been home to nearly half of all the county’s confirmed cases to date — 371 in total.

Matyas was one of the early naysayers about region-wide lockdowns that occurred in March, and was notably the last of the nine Bay Area health officers to institute strict shelter-in-place orders. When he did, he called it a “stay-at-home” order, and he still expressed skepticism that workplaces with cubicles were at all dangerous for the spread of the coronavirus.

Here he is on March 17:

Solano County opened its restaurants for indoor dining back on May 21, two months ahead of the current date set for indoor dining in San Francisco, which is July 13.

The total number of hospitalizations from COVID-19 in Solano County has remained low — it went down to 10 last week from 14, and has remained there since — with 97 people hospitalized since the pandemic began. The county has also seen one of the lowest number of deaths in the Bay Area, with 23, though Napa and Sonoma Counties are tied for the lowest, with four apiece.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Dr. Matyas on Solano COVID-19 spike: adding unconfirmed cases, blaming ‘unpermitted social gatherings’

Matyas: “no evidence that opening the businesses in the county has been a big part of the spike.”

Official blames unpermitted social gatherings for spike Solano in Covid-19 numbers

Fairfield Daily Republic, by Todd R. Hansen, June 18, 2020
Demonstrators march down Texas Street in Fairfield while protesting the death May 25 of George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, Minn., Tuesday, June 2, 2020. (Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic)

FAIRFIELD — Solano County Public Health reported Wednesday that waiting for paperwork from state laboratories on suspected Covid-19 cases was delaying investigations into how transmissions were being made.

“I just decided the delays were just too big and we are wasting too much time to do the investigations,” Dr. Bela Matyas, the public health officer, said in a Wednesday phone interview.

So he decided to count those cases – resulting in a spike of 105 new cases in Wednesday’s update.

Matyas said he fully expects that some of the numbers will be dialed back, but having timely investigations was more important.

The numbers also indicated the active cases climbed from 70 in Tuesday’s report to 132 in Wednesday’s update, a gain of 62.

However, there were no new deaths and the number of residents who are hospitalized with the disease decreased from 14 to 10, the county reported. There have been 97 hospitalizations since the outbreak started, the county reported.

“When I drive around town, I get the sense that it is pre-Covid.” – Dr. Bela Matyas

Matyas said there are three primary sources of the transmissions: dozens of vineyard cases out of Napa and Sonoma counties involving mostly Fairfield residents; graduation parties and other as-of-yet unpermitted social gatherings; and the recent protest marches.

“When I drive around town, I get the sense that it is pre-Covid,” Matyas said of the social gatherings.

He said there is no evidence that opening the businesses in the county has been a big part of the spike.

The report also reflects 1,381 additional tests having been completed.

Despite the big number shifts, Rio Vista and the unincorporated areas of the county continue to be reported as having fewer than 10 cases apiece.

However, one of the 105 new cases was found in one of those jurisdictions.

Fairfield experienced the highest increase with 46 new cases, bringing the city’s total to 219, or 27.7% of the 792 cases in the county.

Vallejo added 34 cases for a total of 371, or 46.8% of all cases in Solano.

Vacaville has 98 cases, 16 new, while Suisun City added five to reach 51 and Dixon added three for a total of 17. Benicia stayed at 25 cases.

Most people who have Covid-19 experience only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. Some people, especially older adults and those with underlying health problems, experience more severe illness such as pneumonia and at times, death.

The vast majority of people recover. The World Health Organization reports people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Solano County – huge spike in COVID-19 cases: 105 new cases on June 17

Wednesday, June 17: 105 new positive cases, no new deaths. Total 792 cases, 23 deaths.

Solano County Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Updates and Resources.  Check out basic information in this screenshot.  IMPORTANT: The County’s interactive page has more.  On the County website, you can hover your mouse over the charts at right for detailed information.

Previous report, Tuesday, June 16

The County does not archive its dashboard.  Archives here: BenIndy’s Daily Count Archive.

Summary

  • Solano County reported a one-day record of 105 new positive cases today, total of 792 cases.
  • No new deaths today, total of 23.
  • Another one-day record of 62 additional active cases since yesterday, total 132.
  • Testing – 1,381 residents were tested since yesterday, quite likely yet another one-day record for Solano.
  • Youth – 12 new cases today among the 17 and under age group, total 52.  There have been 47 new cases among Solano youth in the last 35 days, with only 6 new cases over the 5 weeks prior.


BY AGE GROUP

  • 12 new cases! among those 17 and under, total of 52 cases, including one hospitalization. With today’s 12 new cases, our concern is heightened: there have been 47 new cases among those age 17 and under in the last 35 days, with only 6 new cases over the 5 weeks prior!  And cases among youth have increased in recent weeks to 6.6% of the 792 total confirmed cases.
  • 67 new cases! …among persons 18-49 years of age, total of 406 cases.  2 new hospitalizations, no new deaths, total of 26 hospitalized at one time and 2 deaths.  This age group now represents over 50% of the 792 total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.   26 of the 406 cases in this age group have been hospitalized at one time, 6.4% of total cases in the age group.
  • 22 new cases! among persons 50-64 years of age, total of 186 cases.  1 new hospitalization, no new deaths, total of 31 hospitalized at one time and 3 deaths.  This age group represents 23.5% of the 792 total cases.   31 of the 186 cases in this age group have been hospitalized at one time, 16.7% of total cases in the age group.
  • 4 new cases among persons 65 years or older, total 148 cases, including 1 new hospitalization and no new deaths, total of 39 hospitalized at one time and 18 deaths.  This age group represents 18.7% of the 792 total cases.  39 of the 148 cases in this age group (26.4) were hospitalized at one time, a substantially higher percentage than in the lower age groups.  And… this group counts for 18 of the 23 deaths, over 78%.

CITY DATA

  • Vallejo added 34 new cases today, total of 371.
  • Fairfield added 46 new cases today, total of 219.
  • Vacaville added 16 new cases today, total of 98 cases.
  • Suisun City added 5 new cases today, total of 51 cases.
  • Benicia remained at 25 cases.
  • Dixon added 3 new cases today, total of 17 cases.
  • Rio Vista and “Unincorporated” are still not assigned numerical data: today both remain at <10 (less than 10).  1 new case was evidently in this group today, unaccounted for among the other city counts.  The total numbers for other cities add up to 781, leaving 11 cases somewhere among the 2 locations in this “<10” category (one more than last reported).  Residents and city officials have pressured County officials for city case counts.  Today’s data is welcome, but still incomplete.

TOTAL HOSPITALIZATIONS:  97 of Solano’s 792 cases resulted in hospitalizations since the outbreak started, 4 more than yesterday.  Cumulative hospitalizations is a most important stat to watch.  On May 1 there were 51 hospitalizations, and the daily increase was relatively steady, adding 2 or less each day.  But on May 22, the County reported 4 new hospitalizations, 9 more on May 29, and 3 more on June 2.  We were back to 1 or 2 a day lately or even remaining steady until today’s increase by 4.  We need to keep our eyes on these numbers.

ACTIVE CASES:  132 of the 792 cases are currently active, an astonishing increase of 62 more than yesterday.  Again, this is a something of a mystery to me, given that the County is reporting 105 NEW cases today.  105 NEW cases but only 62 additional ACTIVE cases?  I’m sure there’s an explanation, but….  Note that active cases had been trending lower until a steep increase last week.  We were at 72 active cases on May 28; down to 42 on June 8, and bouncing back up to 88 on Friday June 12.  And now today’s big jump to 132.  Below you will see that only 10 of the active cases are currently hospitalized, which leaves 122 of these 132 active cases out in our communities somewhere, and hopefully quarantined.

HOSPITAL IMPACT: The County shows only 10 of the 97 hospitalized cases are CURRENTLY hospitalized, 4 fewer than yesterday, good news!  The County’s count of ICU beds available and ventilator supply remains at “GOOD” at 31-100%. (No information is given on our supply of test kits, PPE and staff.)
TESTING: The County reports that 18,362 residents have been tested as of today, an increase of 1,381 residents tested since yesterday!  Testing has increased by a large degree over the last 2 weeks, and will continue to be a very important way of limiting and tracking outbreaks – please go get a test if you can!  Testing sites in Vallejo and Vacaville are open to anyone – see locations below.  We still have a long way to go: only 3.1% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

TESTING SITE LOCATIONS:
Vacaville – 1681 E Monte Vista Ave, Vacaville, CA 95688 (entrance at the end of Nut Tree Road)
Vallejo – 1121 Whitney Ave, Vallejo, CA (North Vallejo Community Center)

Solano’s curve – sharp upturn in cumulative cases as of June 17

This chart shows the infection’s steady upward trajectory in Solano County with a sudden jump today.  Our nursing homes, long-term care facilities and jails bear watching, and social distancing is still incredibly important: everyone stay home if you don’t need to go out, wear masks when you do go out (especially in enclosed spaces), wash hands, and be safe!