Wednesday, September 1: Solano reports 1,044 new infections, 3 more deaths, soaring community transmission levels.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:

[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: 3 new deaths were reported today, 14 in the last two weeks. Today’s deaths included one of us age 50-64 and two 65+.  Today’s deaths included two Latinx persons and one White person.  Total Solano deaths over the course of the pandemic rose to 273.

CASES: The County reported  a whopping 1,044 new COVID cases in the last two days, 522 per day, our highest since January 25.

7-DAY CASE RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen 2,192 new cases, substantially over the CDC’s level for “High Community 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.  Solano County’s 2,192 cases is NEARLY FIVE TIMES the CDC’s High rate of transmission!

YOUTH CASES: Case numbers also show a startling increase in the percentage of new cases among young persons age 0-17, increasing another two tenths of a percent to a new high of 13.7% 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 percent of youth has jumped a full 0.7% since mid-August.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 1,056 ACTIVE cases is down from Monday’s 1,097, but alarmingly up from 212 on July 2, and in the range we experienced during the deadly surge last winter.

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

ICU Bed Availability was still shockingly low today at only 16% of ICU beds available, in the yellow danger zone.  This was up only slightly from Monday’s 13%.  We’ve not seen rates this low since January 2021.

Ventilator Availability was down today from 60% to 51%, and also continuing in the range we saw last winter.

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 total doesn’t square with the total by age groups.

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.  For those interested in reviewing the Benicia City Council procedings of August 24, the video is posted on the City website, at benicia.granicus.com/player/clip/3528?view_id=1…. The mask mandate discussion begins around minute 23.

Benicia is the first Solano city to take action despite the County’s lack of strong guidance on masks.  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 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 1:

• Benicia added 43 new cases today, a total of 1,319 cases since the outbreak began.  Benicia is more than 3 times the CDC’s definition of HIGH community transmission level.  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.  The BenIndy does not have time to do all of their calculations just now.  Stay tuned.]
• Dixon added 48 new cases today, total of 2,310 cases.
• Fairfield added 270 new cases today, total of 11,226 cases.
• Rio Vista added 13 new cases today, total of 518 cases.
• Suisun City added 51 new cases today, total of 2,921 cases.
• Vacaville added 322 new cases today, a total of 10,892 cases.
• Vallejo added 294 new cases today, a total of 12,204 cases.
• Unincorporated added 3 new cases today, a total of 131 cases (population figures not available).

Continue reading Solano reports another 3 deaths and a remarkable increase in COVID case numbers →

Monday, August 30: Solano reports 677 new infections, 4 deaths, soaring community transmission levels.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:

[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: 4 new deaths were reported today, two of us age 50-64 and two 65+.  Today’s deaths included an Asian person, a Latinx person and two White persons.  Total Solano deaths over the course of the pandemic rose to 270.

CASES: The County reported  a whopping 677 new COVID cases over the weekend, 325 per day, our highest since January 25.

Solano has seen 1,475 new cases over the last 7 days, well over the CDC’s level for “High Community 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.  Today, Solano County’s 1,475 cases is nearly triple the CDC’s High rate of transmission!

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 to a new high of 13.5% of total cases, the third consecutive 0.1% jump.  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 percent of youth has jumped a full half-percent in the last 2 weeks.

Cases-Per-Day Trend (All Age Groups): We are experiencing a dramatic “summer surge” now.  Cases-per-day were trending downward in the Spring, but rose rapidly in July and are skyrocketing here in August:

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 1,097 ACTIVE cases is up slightly from Friday’s 1,089, alarmingly up from 212 on July 2, and in the range we experienced during the deadly surge last winter.

Hospitalizations

CURRENT hospitalizations were up slightly today from 142 to 143 persons, and still higher than any time since the winter surge.

ICU Bed Availability was still shockingly low today at only 13% of ICU beds available, in the yellow danger zone and nearing red.  This was up only slightly from Friday’s 11%.  We’ve not seen rates this low since January 2021.

Ventilator Availability was up slightly today from 57% to 60%, and also continuing in the range we saw last winter.

TOTAL Hospitalized – 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.  The Age Group chart shows a total of 2,086 persons hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak.  The Hospitalizations by Race / Ethnicity chart was also not updated today, and shows  a total of 1,954 persons hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak.  Interestingly, the total doesn’t square with the total by age groups.

Face Coverings… 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.  For those interested in reviewing the Benicia City Council procedings of August 24, the video is posted on the City website, at benicia.granicus.com/player/clip/3528?view_id=1…. The mask mandate discussion begins around minute 23.

Benicia is the first Solano city to take action despite the County’s lack of strong guidance on masks.  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 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 Monday, August 30:

• Benicia added 36 new cases today, a total of 1,276 cases since the outbreak began, 4.6% of its population of 27,570.  Benicia is far and above over the CDC’s HIGH community transmission level with 60 (!) new cases in the last 7 days.  (14 cases over the last 7 days = “Substantial” and 28 cases = “High”.)
• Dixon added 39 new cases today, total of 2,262 cases, 11.4% of its population of 19,794.
• Fairfield added 166 new cases today, total of 10,956 cases, 9.4% of its population of 117,149.
• Rio Vista added 9 new cases today, total of 505 cases, 5.4% of its population of 9,416.
• Suisun City added 55 new cases today, total of 2,870 cases, 9.7% of its population of 29,447.
• Vacaville added 185 new cases today, a total of 10,570 cases, 10.7% its of population of 98,807.
• Vallejo added 182 new cases today, a total of 11,910 cases, 10.0% of its population of 119,544.
• Unincorporated added 5 new case today, a total of 128 cases (population figures not available).

Continue reading Solano County reports 4 COVID deaths, 677 new infections, soaring community transmission levels →

Friday, August 27: Solano reports 471 (!) new infections today, 1,089 active cases, ICU beds becoming scarce.  Benicia indoors masking ordinance is ordered.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:

[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: No new deaths were reported today.  Total Solano deaths over the course of the pandemic remains at 266.

CASES: The County reported  a whopping 471 new COVID over the last 2 days, 236 per day, our highest since February 1. Case numbers show a startling increase in the PERCENTAGE OF YOUNG PERSONS age 0-17, increasing another tenth of a percent to a new high of 13.4% of total cases, the second such jump this week.  The percentage of youth cases increased very slowly over the course of the pandemic, starting below 6%, and very gradually reaching 12% in mid-April of 2021.  CASES-PER DAY TREND (All Age Groups): We are experiencing a dramatic “summer surge” now.  Cases-per-day were trending downward in the Spring, but rose rapidly in July and are skyrocketing here in August:

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 1,089 ACTIVE cases is up from Wednesday’s 904, and alarmingly up from 212 on July 2, and in the range we experienced during the horrific surge last winter.

Hospitalizations

CURRENT hospitalizations were down slightly today from 147 to 142 persons, but still higher than any time since the winter surge.

ICU Bed Availability was down to a shocking low today of only 11% of ICU beds available today, in the yellow danger zone and nearing red.  We’ve not seen rates this low since January 2021.

Ventilator Availability was down slightly today from 58% to 57%, and also continuing in the range we saw last winter.

TOTAL Hospitalized – 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.  The Age Group chart shows 2 new hospitalizations, 1 age 50-64, and 1 over 65 – a total of 2,086 persons hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak.

The Hospitalizations by Race / Ethnicity chart also shows  2 new hospitalizations today, 1 Asian, and 1 White – a total of 1,954 persons hospitalized since the beginning of the outbreak.  Interestingly, the total doesn’t square with the total by age groups.

Face Coverings… 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, a press release, and a flyer now appears on the City website.  For those interested in viewing last night’s procedings, the video is posted on the City website, at benicia.granicus.com/player/clip/3528?view_id=1…. The mask mandate discussion begins around minute 23.

Benicia is the first Solano city to take action despite the County’s lack of strong guidance on masks.  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 make the necessary difficult decisions, but all reports are that he intends not to do so. 

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

Cases by City on Friday, August 27:

• Benicia added 16 new cases today, a total of 1,240 cases since the outbreak began, 4.5% of its population of 27,570.  Benicia remains in the CDC’s HIGH transmission level with 35 new cases in the last 7 days.
• Dixon added 29 new cases today, total of 2,223 cases, 11.2% of its population of 19,794.
• Fairfield added 107 new cases today, total of 10,790 cases, 9.2% of its population of 117,149.
• Rio Vista added 8 new cases today, total of 496 cases, 5.3% of its population of 9,416.
• Suisun City added 39 new cases today, total of 2,815 cases, 9.5% of its population of 29,447.
• Vacaville added 136 new cases today, a total of 10,385 cases, 10.5% its of population of 98,807.
• Vallejo added 135 new cases today, a total of 11,728 cases, 9.8% of its population of 119,544.
• Unincorporated added 1 new case today, a total of 123 cases (population figures not available).

Continue reading Solano County reports nearly 500 new infections, over 1,000 active cases, fewer ICU beds available →