Tag Archives: Suisun City CA

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

COVID-19 UPDATE – Solano County adds 11 more cases, notes fewer ICU beds available

County lowers its Hospital Impact report on ICU beds from GOOD to MODERATE

Monday, April 20: eleven new cases no new deaths, total now 180 cases, 2 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 click on “Number of cases” and then hover over the charts for detailed information.

Last report (Friday, April 17):

Summary

Solano County reported 11 NEW POSITIVE CASES over the weekend and today – total is now 180.  No new deaths in Solano County – still stands at 2.

Over the weekend:

    • 7 new cases were reported on Saturday 4/18
    • 4 new cases were reported on Sunday 4/19
    • 0 new cases were reported today, Monday 4/20

As of today:

    • 1 additional positive case was a young person under 19 years of age, total of 3 cases, less than 2% of total confirmed cases.
    • 9 of today’s 11 new cases were persons 19-64 years of age, total of 148 cases, 82%, of the total 180 confirmed cases. (No new deaths, total of 1).
    • 1 additional case was a person 65 or older, total of 29 cases, 16% of the 180 total. (No new deaths, total of 1).

ACTIVE CASES:  35 of the 180 are active cases. This is 2 more than previously reported on Friday, 4/17.

HOSPITALIZATIONS: 41 of Solano’s 180 cases resulted in hospitalizations (no change since Friday 4/17).  The County’s “Hospital Impact” graph (below) shows that only 10 are currently hospitalized, 2 fewer than yesterday.  The County lowered its count of ICU beds available from GOOD to MODERATE, dipping below 30% for the first time.  Our supply of ventilators continues at 31-100%, or GOOD.  (No information is given on our supply of test kits, PPE and staff.)

CITY DATA

  • Vallejo added 3 new cases, total of 70
  • Fairfield added 4 new cases, total of 47
  • Vacaville added 2 new cases, total of 26 cases;
  • Suisun City remains at 11 cases.
  • Benicia added 1 new case, total of 12.
  • Dixon, Rio Vista and “Unincorporated” are still not assigned numerical data: all show <10 (less than 10).  1 of today’s new cases remains a mystery, coming from one of these locations.  Residents and city officials have been pressuring County officials for city case counts for many weeks.  Today’s data is welcome, but still incomplete.

TESTING

The Number of residents tested panel reports that 2,463 residents have been tested as of today.  This is an increase of only 139 tested since Friday’s total of 2,324.  Why the slowdown?  Last week, around 150 new tests were reported daily.  Was testing halted on the weekend?  (I have no information as to the reason for the slow pace of testing in Solano County – inadequate supply of kits, perhaps?)  Only 55 hundredths of 1% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

The blue bars in the chart, “Daily number of cases on the date that specimens were collected” shows why the County is interpreting a flattening of the curve.  Note that the daily date in that chart refers to the date a sample was drawn and so reflects the lag time in testing.

Solano’s upward curve in cumulative cases – as of April 20

The chart above gives a clear picture of the infection’s trajectory in Solano County.  It’s too soon to tell, but we may be seeing a flattening of the curve!  Still – incredibly important…

…everyone stay home and be safe!

Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA, Suisun City CA

Coronavirus in Benicia, CA: Solano County COVID-19 report (April 15)

Wednesday, April 15: only one new case! No new deaths, total now 141 cases, 2 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 click on “Number of cases” and then hover over the charts for detailed information.

Last report (Tuesday, April 14):

Summary:

Solano County reported ONLY 1 NEW POSITIVE CASE today – total is now 141.  No new deaths in Solano County – still 2.

As of today:

    • No additional positive cases of young persons under 19 years of age, total of 2.
    • Today’s new case was a person 19-64 years of age, total of 112 cases, 79%, of the 141 total (no new deaths, total of 1).
    • No additional cases were persons 65 or older, total of 27 cases, 19% of the 140 total (including 1 death)

ACTIVE CASES:  Only 24 of the 141 are active cases. This is 5 less than previously reported yesterday – good news!

HOSPITALIZATIONS: The County’s “Hospital Impact” graph (below) is significant. While 39 of the 141 cases resulted in hospitalizations, only 16 are currently hospitalized – but this is 2 more than yesterday.  Good news: the County continues to estimate that our supply of ICU beds and ventilators is GOOD.  (No information is given on our supply of PPE and staff.)

CITY DATA: Vallejo remains at 53 cases; Fairfield added 1 new case, total of 35; and Vacaville remains at 24 cases.  One of our smaller cities graduated from the vague <10 category: Suisun City is now showing 10 confirmed cases.  Benicia, Dixon, Rio Vista and “Unincorporated” are still not assigned numerical data: all show <10 (less than 10).  Residents and city officials have been pressuring County officials for city case counts for many weeks.  Today’s data is welcome, but incomplete.

The Number of residents tested panel reports that 2,015 residents have been tested as of today.  This is an increase of only 93 over yesterday’s total of 1,922.  Approximately 4 tenths of 1% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

The blue bars in the chart, “Daily number of cases on the date that specimens were collected” shows why the County is interpreting a flattening of the curve.  Note that the daily date in that chart refers to the date a sample was drawn and so reflects the lag time in testing.

Solano’s slowing upward curve in cumulative cases – as of April 15

The chart above gives a clear picture of the infection’s trajectory in Solano County.  Our COVID-19 curve continues may be slowing!

But it remains incredibly important that everyone – please! – stay home and be safe!

Crude By Rail, Local Regulation, Oil stabilization, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail, Volatility

U.S. Rep. Garamendi praises Benicia City Council for crude-by-rail vote

Repost from the Fairfield Daily Republic

Garamendi praises Benicia City Council for crude-by-rail vote

By Ryan McCarthy, September 23, 2016

FAIRFIELD — Rep. John Garamendi is praising the Benicia City Council for its unanimous vote rejecting a proposed crude oil by rail facility that Valero corporation would have operated and Garamendi said would have led to dangerous railcars traveling through Fairfield, Suisun City, Dixon and Davis.

“The action by the Benicia City Council is a clear signal that shipping oil by rail presents a serious safety problem that must be addressed before our communities are faced with increased oil shipments,” Garamendi, D-Walnut Grove, said Thursday in a news release. “The council did the right thing by forcing a pause on oil by rail through our communities.”

The congressman, who represents the 3rd District that includes Fairfield and Suisun City, authored the Bakken Crude Stabilization Act to reduce the volatility of oil transported by rail and make it safer to transport, the release said.

Air Quality, Crude By Rail, donner, Electronically controlled pneumatic braking (ECP), Emergency Readiness & Response, Explosion, Noise pollution, Oil stabilization, Oil storage, Positive Train Control, Revised Draft EIR, Valero Benicia Refinery, Valero Crude By Rail

Davis Enterprise Editorial: Benicia washes its hands of us

Repost from the Davis Enterprise

Our view: Benicia washes its hands of us

By Our View | November 15, 2015

The issue: Bay Area city can’t see past its own back yard on refinery project

The city of Benicia — the only entity capable of exerting any control over the crude-oil shipments set to arrive at a planned expansion of a Valero oil terminal — has shown in a draft environmental impact report that any impact the terminal has on communities farther up the train tracks is none of its business.

THE PROPOSED project would allow Valero to transport crude oil to its Benicia refinery on two 50-car freight trains daily on Union Pacific tracks that come right through Davis, Dixon, Fairfield and Suisun City on their way to Benicia. The rail shipments would replace up to 70,000 barrels per day of crude oil currently transported to the refinery by ship, according to city documents.

The original draft EIR, released in 2014, didn’t adequately address safety and environmental concerns. Local governments — including the city of Davis, Yolo County and the Sacramento Area Council of Governments — weighed in on the draft, urging Benicia to take a second look.

Benicia withdrew the draft and went back to work, and the new document acknowledges the risks of pollution, noise and, oh yes, catastrophic explosions from oil trains, the likes of which leveled Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, in 2013.

Disappointingly, having recognized the issues involved, the report simply says there’s no way to mitigate them and recommends moving ahead. With a bureaucratic shrug of the shoulders, the concerns of communities from Roseville to Suisun City are dismissed.

NATURALLY, SACOG disagrees, and so do we. While it’s true that there’s not a lot Benicia can do itself to mitigate the impact of its project, it can force Valero to do something about it.

SACOG urges a raft of measures that are within Valero’s control: advanced notification to local emergency personnel of all shipments, limits on storage of crude-oil tanks in urban areas, funding to train emergency responders, cars with electronically controlled pneumatic brakes, money for rail-safety improvements, implementation of Positive Train Control protocols and, most importantly, a prohibition on shipments of unstabilized crude oil that hasn’t been stripped of the volatile elements that made Lac-Mégantic and other derailments so catastrophic.

Due to federal laws, cities along the railway lines have no ability to control what goes through. Only Benicia, now, while the project is still on the drawing board, has the authority to set reasonable limits and conditions on a project that puts millions of people along the railroad in harm’s way.

We urge the Benicia City Council to use its discretionary authority in this matter to protect those of us who have no say in the process.