Tag Archives: Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

#Masks4All, #wearamask, Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Dr. Bela Matyas thinks he knows better than the CDC, will not recommend masks despite Solano surge

Solano County Health Officer Won’t Follow CDC’s Indoor Mask Recommendation

Most residents said they will follow CDC’s guidelines despite the county not echoing the recommendation

NBC Bay Area, by Jodi Hernandez, July 27, 2021

The Centers for Disease Control is reversing course and is now recommending that both vaccinated and unvaccinated people wear masks indoors, specially in parts of the country where COVID-19 cases are on the rise.

In the Bay Area, Solano County has been seeing 100 COVID-19 cases a day, which is more than double from last week. However, the county health officer does not think masking up indoors.

Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano County’s health officer, said the CDC’s recommendation is misguided.

“The transmission that’s occurring in people’s homes, backyards, camping,” he said, “it’s not an environment where masking recommendations are going to apply.”

“Nothing has changed with respect to the science to warrant the CDC’s change in its recommendation,” he said.

Most people in Solano County said they will follow the CDC’s guidance despite the county not echoing the recommendation.

“I am fine wearing a mask,” Benicia resident Linda Martino said. “I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.”

The owner of Art Centric in Benicia even put up her “masks required” sign up again.

“Now that we’re seeing cases rise, I want to protect myself as well as my customers,” said Aline Karpoyan.

“I’d like to be through with this,” said resident Laura Harper.

“Everybody get vaccinated, get past the masks and past the COVID thing all together.”

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Delta variant, Face coverings, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Dr. Matyas thinks you will catch it in your backyard, but – somehow? – not indoors at a place of business…

Delta Variant: Here’s Why Solano County is Not Recommending Masks Indoors

NBCBayArea, by Terry McSweeney, July 19, 2021

All but one Bay Area county is recommending masking up indoors as COVID cases continue to spike locally and across the nation due to the highly contagious delta variant.

Solano County is sticking to a policy following state guidelines: no masks outdoors for anyone and none indoors for the fully vaccinated, with some exceptions, such as healthcare settings.

“The cases have been occurring over the last two weeks because of July 4 behavior — barbecues, gatherings in people’s backyards,” Solano County Public Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas said. “So a masking mandate for indoors for shopping, and retail, and restaurants is not going to make any difference. That’s not where it’s being transmitted. It’s being transmitted in people’s homes.”

Meanwhile, Napa County on Monday joined the other seven Bay Area counties in strongly recommending masking when in indoor public settings to slow the spread of the delta variant. The next step could be the return of a mask mandate.

Los Angeles County is already mandating masking after a surge in cases in Southern California.

UCSF’s Dr. George Rutherford does not see the Bay Area going that far, though he sees value in masking.

Benicia CA, California State Prison Vacaville, Coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID-19 tier assignments, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Solano adds 10 new COVID cases, all age 18-49, active cases more than double

By Roger Straw, Friday, June 11, 2021

Solano County reported 10 new infections and no new deaths today.  Vaccinate! Stay safe when indoors or in crowds, and remember…

People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems.  And: “More than 70% of COVID-19 patients studied report having at least one “long haul” symptom that lasts for months.”  It’s not over yet!

Solano County COVID report on Friday, June 11.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

Solano County reported 10 new COVID cases today – all 10 were age 18-49.  Monthly: Solano County saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In May, Solano reported 920 new cases, an average of 30 per day.  Solano saw 78 new cases over the past week, an average of 11 per day and quite a significant improvement.  BUT… that’s still 11 of us and our families, friends and co-workers who are affected.  TAKE CARE!

Solano County reported no new deaths today.  The County total is 244 deaths since the pandemic began.

Solano’s 152 active cases today are up dramatically from yesterday’s 60.  Our percent positivity rate fell today from 5.5% to 4.2%.

SOLANO IS NOW IN THE ORANGE TIER – Solano County was finally moved into the orange tier last week, the last Bay Area County to leave the red tier.  See details on remaining restrictions and new freedoms in the County’s press release, also in the account of the Vallejo Times-Herald.

JUNE 15 RE-OPENING – NEXT TUESDAY – Solano County Public Health posted 2 links on its dashboard on Monday detailing new re-opening developments:

Cal/OSHA prepares for the June 15 Beyond the Blueprint announcement.  The revised Cal/OSHA standards will go into effect no later than June 15. For more information, visit: https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2021/2021-58.html

For more information about Beyond the Blueprint, see the flyer “What will California look like after June 15?”

>> The numbers are improving, but the virus is still active here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask in crowds and social distance if you’re not sure who’s vaccinated!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Friday, June 11:

  • Benicia remained steady today, a total of 1,003 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon remained steady today, total of 1,922 cases.
  • Fairfield added only 1 new case today, total of 9,121 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 2 new cases today, total of 394 cases.
  • Suisun City added 1 new case today, total of 2,294 cases.
  • Vacaville added 4 new cases today, a total of 8,822 cases.  Note that Vacaville is home to a California State Prison, which experienced an outbreak last week.
  • Vallejo added 2 new cases today, total of 9,910 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Thursday, June 10:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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
Benicia CA, California State Prison Vacaville, Coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID-19 tier assignments, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Solano case rate increasing over last 3 days: 26 new infections overnight

By Roger Straw, Thursday, June 10, 2021

Solano County reported 26 new infections and no new deaths today.  Vaccinate! Stay safe when indoors or in crowds, and remember…

People with mild COVID can have long-term health problems.  And: “More than 70% of COVID-19 patients studied report having at least one “long haul” symptom that lasts for months.”  It’s not over yet!

Solano County COVID report on Thursday, June 10.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

Solano County reported 26 new COVID cases today, and no new deaths.  Monthly: Solano County saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In May, Solano reported 920 new cases, an average of 30 per day.  Our case rate is increasing over the last 3 days: Tuesday plus 7 new cases, Wednesday plus 15, and today plus 26, nearly back to our May average of 30 per day.

Solano County reported no new deaths today.  The County total is 244 deaths since the pandemic began.

Solano’s Active cases are now at 60, down from yesterday’s 69.  Our percent positivity rate remained even today at 5.5%.

SOLANO NOW IN ORANGE TIER – Solano County was finally moved into the orange tier last week, the last Bay Area County to leave the red tier.  See details on remaining restrictions and new freedoms in the County’s press release, also in the account of the Vallejo Times-Herald.

JUNE 15 RE-OPENING – Solano County Public Health posted 2 links on its dashboard on Monday detailing new re-opening developments:

Cal/OSHA prepares for the June 15 Beyond the Blueprint announcement.  The revised Cal/OSHA standards will go into effect no later than June 15. For more information, visit: https://www.dir.ca.gov/DIRNews/2021/2021-58.html

For more information about Beyond the Blueprint, see the flyer “What will California look like after June 15?”

>> The numbers are improving, but the virus is still active here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask in crowds and social distance if you’re not sure who’s vaccinated!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Thursday, June 10:

  • Benicia added 1 new case today, a total of 1,003 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon remained steady today, total of 1,922 cases.
  • Fairfield added 8 new cases today, total of 9,120 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 392 cases.
  • Suisun City remained steady today, total of 2,293 cases.
  • Vacaville added 13 new cases today, a total of 8,818 cases.  Note that Vacaville is home to a California State Prison, which experienced an outbreak last week.
  • Vallejo added only 3 new cases today, total of 9,908 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Wednesday, June 9:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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