Tag Archives: Vacaville CA

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Solano reports only 21% of hospital ICU beds available – now in yellow danger zone

By Roger Straw, December 11, 2020

In this time of exploding numbers, NOW through mid-January at the least – please take extra precautions.  Stay home as much as you can, and make plans now for a different kind of Christmas, Hanukah and New Year celebration.  Wear a mask if you must go out, order groceries for pick-up or delivery, don’t stay long anywhere but home, and keep your distance more carefully than ever before.

Here are the Friday numbers – take note!

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard.  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.  Sorry, I can’t for the life of me explain the differences between Solano reporting and the State’s reporting….]

Friday, December 11: 200 (!) new cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since Feb: 12,733 cases, more than 600 hospitalized, 91 deaths.Compare previous report, Thursday, Dec. 10:Summary

    • Solano County reported 200 (!) new cases overnight.  As of today, Solano has seen an average increase of 148 new cases per day over the last 14 days! (source: covid19.ca.gov)  Total of 12,733 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, a total of 91 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 21 fewer active cases today, but a total of 1,532 active cases – still incredibly high for Solano County.  The County has hit a new record high in 5 of the last 8 days!  Active cases are clearly increasing at an alarmingly rate lately – COMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 1,532!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – (For COVID19-CA.GOV info, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.)  CAUTION ON SOLANO HEALTH DEPARTMENT REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County “occasionally” updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Today, Solano County reported the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized persons decreased by 4, total of 82.  But TOTAL hospitalized among age groups has not been updated since since November 30 when a total of 603 of all ages had been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Hopefully the County will update these figures at a later date.  [For my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano County reported only 21% of our ICU beds available today, deep in the yellow danger zone, and equaling the lowest we’ve seen in this county.  The San Francisco Chronicle reported today that ICU hospital bed capacity in two Solano cities are among the most impacted in the SF Bay Area: Vacaville with 91% of ICU beds occupied and Vallejo with 81% of ICU beds occupied.  (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)
    • Testing – The County reports today that 1,420 residents were tested overnight, a total of 144,039 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  32.2% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate – Still very high at 14.5%

Solano County reported another high 7-day average positive test rate today of 14.5%, down a bit from yesterday’s 15.2% but still far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on the rise lately, up today from 10.0 to 10.5%.  (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group
  • Youth 17 and under – 24 (!) new cases today, total of 1,450 cases, representing 11.4% of the 12,733 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age group.  But cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 117 (!) new cases today, total of 7,461 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents just under 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 194 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 39 new cases today, total of 2,491 cases.  This age group represents nearly 20% of the 12,733 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 162 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 16 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 20 new cases today, total of 1,323, representing 10.4% of Solano’s 12,733 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 233 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 69 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 91 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 10 (!) new cases today, total of 337 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 10 new cases today, total of 918 cases.
  • Fairfield added 60 new cases today, total of 3,782 cases.
  • Rio Vista remained steady today, total of 108 cases.
  • Suisun City added 11 new cases today, total of 884 cases.
  • Vacaville added 62 new cases today, total of 2,696 cases.
  • Vallejo added 47 new cases today, total of 3,965 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 43 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 22% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 22% of cases, 26% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 27% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, ICU, Intensive Care Units (ICUs), San Francisco Bay Area, Vacaville CA, Vallejo CA

ICU Hospital Bed Capacity in Vacaville and Vallejo Among Most Impacted in Bay Area

How Bay Area ICU capacity compares to the most impacted areas in California, nation

San Francisco Chronicle, by Kellie Hwang, Dec. 11, 2020 
Nurse Waymond Jones (left) Respiratory Therapist Laura Sandoval (center) and nurse Larry Ngiraswei (right) prepare to prone a COVID-19 patient in the ICU at Regional Medical Center of San Jose, an acute-care hospital, on Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020 in San Jose, California. Following Thanksgiving there has been an uptick in COVID-19 cases all over California and the Bay Area. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Hospitals in the Bay Area, California and across the nation are running short of intensive care unit beds as the latest coronavirus surge sets new records for cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

On Thursday, California reported a record 2,710 ICU hospitalizations, and four of five state regions, including part of the Bay Area, were under the regional stay-at-home order issued last week by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The order is triggered when available ICU hospital capacity dips below 15%.

The five regions, based on California’s mutual aid system and emergency response networks, are the Bay Area, Southern California, the San Joaquin Valley, Greater Sacramento and Northern California.

The Southern California region, with 7.7% ICU availability as of Thursday, and the San Joaquin Valley, with just 1.9% availability, fell under the stay-at-home order last weekend. Restrictions went into effect overnight Thursday for the Greater Sacramento area, with 13.3% availability.

The Bay Area region was at 17.8% available ICU capacity Thursday, though five of its 11 counties — San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara and Marin — have voluntarily tightened restrictions in line with the state order. Sonoma County announced Thursday it will join them this weekend. Northern California had the highest ICU availability in the state, at 30.3%.

Critical shortages are occurring across the nation. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services began releasing COVID-19 hospital capacity data at the facility level, aggregating daily hospital reports and sharing them on a weekly basis. The New York Times has created an interactive map detailing the ICU capacity throughout the U.S.  [BenIndy editor: The NYTimes map shows Fairfield (22 of 30 ICU beds occupied, 75% on Dec. 9) as well as Vallejo (20 of 24, 81%) and Vacaville (10 of 11, 91%).  It’s a little hard to navigate the map, but worth it for the numbers.  – R.S.] 

Here are the ICU occupancy rates for both the most-impacted and the largest high-population locations in the Bay Area, compared with California and the U.S., according to the data released Monday. The figures are based on seven-day average patient count by hospital service area.

Daly City: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Santa Rosa: 95% of ICU beds occupied

 Vacaville: 91% of ICU beds occupied 

South San Francisco: 90% of ICU beds occupied

San Leandro: 90% of ICU beds occupied

Petaluma: 88% of ICU beds occupied

Martinez: 83% of ICU beds occupied

Fremont: 83% of ICU beds occupied

 Vallejo: 81% of ICU beds occupied 

Castro Valley: 80% of ICU beds occupied

Sonoma County

In Santa Rosa, the largest city in Sonoma County, ICUs are 95% full. Sonoma County did not initially join the five Bay Area counties in adopting the stay-at-home measure, but officials announced Thursday that the county would adopt it starting Saturday at 12:01 a.m.

“Although Sonoma County has fared better until now than other parts of the state in terms of demand on our hospitals, we have been seeing an alarming increase in cases and hospitalizations in recent days, and this is putting increased strain on our medical resources,” county health officer Dr. Sundari Mase said in a news release. “We feel we have no choice but to join the other Bay Area counties in preemptively adopting the governor’s Stay-Home order.”

Mase noted that hospitalizations in Sonoma are near the county’s highest ever, and that coronavirus case rates are at their highest since the pandemic began. “We also are seeing a wider geographic spread of infection,” Mase said. She tied the increases to the surge in cases across the nation as well as large gatherings in the county, including over Halloween and Thanksgiving.

At a community briefing on Wednesday, the most recent ICU available capacity was reported at 11.6% in Sonoma County. ICU beds occupied in Sonoma are at 57%, Healdsburg is at 20% and Petaluma stands at 88%. The county removed hospital capacity data from its website, and the Press Democrat reported that officials are working with the state to fix discrepancies between the county and state websites.

MOST IMPACTED CALIFORNIA

Daly City: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Huntington Beach (Orange County): 100% of ICU beds occupied

Ventura: 99% of ICU beds occupied

Upland (San Bernardino County): 97% of ICU beds occupied

Chula Vista (San Diego County): 97% of ICU beds occupied

Oxnard (Ventura County): 96% of ICU beds occupied

Victorville (San Bernardino County): 95% of ICU beds occupied

Thousand Oaks (Ventura County): 95% of ICU beds occupied

Santa Rosa: 95% of ICU beds occupied

Fresno: 95% of ICU beds occupied

Lynwood (Los Angeles County): 95% of ICU beds occupied

Northridge (Los Angeles County): 95% of ICU beds occupied

Arcadia (Los Angeles County): 94% of ICU beds occupied

Redlands (San Bernardino County): 94% of ICU beds occupied

Fontana (San Bernardino County): 93% of ICU beds occupied

Redding: 91% of ICU beds occupied

Huntington Beach

In California, all of Huntington Beach’s 11 ICU beds are occupied. The Orange County city of fewer than 200,000 has made headlines as a gathering place for locals to demonstrate their resistance to mask orders and other pandemic restriction-enforcement measures.

Ventura County

In Ventura County, the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Camarillo are all at more than 95% ICU capacity. The county is grouped in the Southern California region, which is under the regional stay-at-home order. County supervisors have unanimously voted to propose a new region that would include Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, which have much higher available ICU capacity and therefore likely could remove restrictions on businesses sooner.

MOST IMPACTED U.S.

Albuquerque, N.M.: 116% of ICU beds occupied

Baton Rouge, La.: 109% of ICU beds occupied

Ogden, Utah: 107% of ICU beds occupied

Upland, Pa.: 106% of ICU beds occupied

Easton, Pa.: 104% of ICU beds occupied

Abington, Pa.: 102% of ICU beds occupied)

Pompano Beach, Fla.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Port St. Lucie, Fla.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Dothan, Ala.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Douglasville, Ga.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Wailuku, Hawaii: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Chicago Heights, Ill.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Leonardtown, Md.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

St. Joseph, Mo.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

St. Cloud, Minn.: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Albuquerque

The hospital service area that includes Albuquerque shows the highest ICU occupancy in the nation at 116%. In mid-November, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham tightened restrictions statewide in hopes of reducing the virus spread, but that wasn’t enough. On Nov. 20, a backup hospital in Albuquerque was opened to relieve the strain. Now hospitals are reaching surge capacity at nearly 1,000 hospitalizations daily. Officials are preparing to ration care to coronavirus patients, with the only criterion being whether a person is likely to survive.

TOP LARGEST LOCATIONS IN THE BAY AREA GROUP

San Francisco: 72% of ICU beds occupied

Oakland: 62% of ICU beds occupied

Santa Rosa: 95% of ICU beds occupied

San Jose: 68% of ICU beds occupied

Greenbrae: 59% of ICU beds occupied

Napa: 45% of ICU beds occupied

Vallejo: 81% of ICU beds occupied

Daly City: 100% of ICU beds occupied

Concord: 78% of ICU beds occupied

Salinas: 61% of ICU beds occupied

Santa Cruz: 76% of ICU beds occupied

TOP LARGEST CALIFORNIA CITIES

Los Angeles: 80% of ICU beds occupied

San Diego: 65% of ICU beds occupied

San Jose: 68% of ICU beds occupied

San Francisco: 72% of ICU beds occupied

Fresno: 95% of ICU beds occupied

Sacramento: 83% of ICU beds occupied

Long Beach: 51% of ICU beds occupied

Oakland: 62% of ICU beds occupied

Bakersfield: 75% of ICU beds occupied

Anaheim: 87% of ICU beds occupied

Santa Ana: 37% of ICU beds occupied

Riverside: 88% of ICU beds occupied

Stockton: 90% of ICU beds occupied

Irvine: No ICU data reported from local hospitals

Chula Vista: 97% of ICU beds occupied

Chula VIsta

Chula Vista, in San Diego County, has the highest percentage of ICU beds occupied at 97%. San Diego County’s hospitals have seen a crush of coronavirus admissions since late November, and some facilities have reported that they are already utilizing surge beds, concerned about an increase of cases due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

TOP LARGEST U.S. CITIES

New York City: 78% of ICU beds occupied

Los Angeles: 80% of ICU beds occupied

Chicago: 65% of ICU beds occupied

Houston: 91% of ICU beds occupied

Phoenix: 64% of ICU beds occupied

Philadelphia: 84% of ICU beds occupied

San Antonio: 91% of ICU beds occupied

San Diego: 65% of ICU beds occupied

Dallas: 93% of ICU beds occupied

San Jose: 68% of ICU beds occupied

Austin, Texas: 85% of ICU beds occupied

Jacksonville, Fla.: 79% of ICU beds occupied

Fort Worth, Texas: 92% of ICU beds occupied

Columbus, Ohio: 83% of ICU beds occupied

Charlotte, N.C.: 81% of ICU beds occupied

Texas

Dallas has the lowest ICU capacity on this list, with just 7% of ICU beds available. Dallas County recently reported the second-highest daily death toll in the pandemic, and the county had to lower business capacity from 75% to 50% on Dec. 3 after going over the 15% ICU capacity threshold.

Fort Worth, in Texas’ Tarrant County, follows closely behind with 92% of ICU beds occupied. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s office is near storage capacity for bodies, so two refrigerated trucks have been brought in and are expected to be used soon.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

Record high COVID numbers in Solano County on Thursday Dec 10

Highest single-day increase in new positive cases and in total currently active infections…

By Roger Straw, December 10, 2020

I think there’s a little-reported variation on the oft-heard “COVID fatigue.”  It’s COVID NUMBERS fatigue.

I watch the morning news and the evening news, and I can’t begin to count the times I’ve sat through the latest number of cases nationally and in California; the number of hospitalizations and deaths; PPEs and ventilators; the percentage of test rates… and more recently the percentage of available ICU beds by state, region and county….

And more.  Every day.  For months and months now.  I’m even sicker of it than you, given that I’ve reported the numbers in Solano County every day since April 20.  I keep being tempted to write a headline something to the effect of, “Broken Record – Solano numbers going bonkers again and still….”

Fatigue is real, but so is the need to pay attention and take care.

In this time of exploding numbers, NOW through mid-January at the least – please take extra precautions.  Stay home as much as you can, and make plans now for a different kind of Christmas, Hanukah and New Year celebration.  Wear a mask if you must go out, order groceries for pick-up or delivery, don’t stay long anywhere but home, and keep your distance more carefully than ever before.

Here are the Thursday numbers – take note!

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today, around 8:45pm).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.  Sorry, I can’t for the life of me explain the differences between Solano reporting and the State’s reporting….]

Thursday, December 10: 410 (!!) new cases overnight, 1 new death.  Since Feb: 12,533 cases, more than 600 hospitalized, 91 deaths.Compare previous report, Wednesday, Dec. 9:Summary

    • Solano County reported a record 410 (!!) new cases overnight, far and away the highest single-day increase in COVID cases ever in Solano County.  As of today, Solano has seen an average increase of 145 new cases per day over the last 14 days! (source: covid19.ca.gov)  Total of 12,533 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – 1 new death reported today, someone over 65 years of age, a total of 91 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 315 (!!) more active cases today.  New total of 1,553 active cases – another record high for Solano County.  The County has hit a new record high in 5 of the last 7 days!  Active cases are clearly increasing at an alarmingly rate lately – COMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 1,553!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – (For COVID19-CA.GOV info, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.)  CAUTION ON COUNTY REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County occasionally updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Today, Solano County reported the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized persons increased by 8, total of 86, but TOTAL hospitalized since the outbreak began supposedly remained unchanged today, a total of 603 of all ages hospitalized since the outbreak began.  The County will likely update these figures at a later date.  [For my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.]
    • ICU Beds – (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)  The County reported no change in ICU beds available today, remaining at 32%, just out of the yellow danger zone.
    • Testing – The County reports today that 1,211 residents were tested overnight, a total of 142,619 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  31.9% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate – Sky high again at 15.2%

Solano County reported another high 7-day average positive test rate today of 15.2%, up from yesterday’s 12.8%, far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on the rise lately, but held steady today at 10.0%.  (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group
  • Youth 17 and under – 59 (!!) new cases today, total of 1,426 cases, representing 11.4% of the 12,533 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age group.  But cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 235 (!!) new cases today, total of 7,344 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents just under 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 194 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 80 (!!) new cases today, total of 2,452 cases.  This age group represents nearly 20% of the 12,533 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 162 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 16 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 36 (!) new cases today, total of 1,303, representing 10.4% of Solano’s 12,533 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 233 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  1 new death was reported in this age group today.  A total of 69 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 91 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 9 (!) new cases today, total of 327 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 31 (!!) new cases today, total of 908 cases.
  • Fairfield added 119 (!!) new cases today, total of 3,722 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 3 new cases today, total of 108 cases.
  • Suisun City added 34 (!!) new cases today, total of 873 cases.
  • Vacaville added 81 (!) new cases today, total of 2,634 cases.
  • Vallejo added 133 (!!) new cases today, total of 3,918 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 43 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 22% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 22% of cases, 26% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 27% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations and 33% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.

Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County CA

173 new COVID cases reported in Solano County today, record number of 1,238 active cases

Not just numbers…

By Roger Straw, December 9, 2020

I hope I’m providing a real service tracking the numbers.  Sometimes I worry about it.  I’m aware that too often the numbers hide the trauma, loss, fatigue and anxiety we are all feeling, not to mention the excruciating experiences of those who are hospitalized and ventilated or bereaved.

I track the numbers to tell the meta story, the big picture.  You and I need to make our personal decisions with a sense of what conditions are like in our communities.  Numerical trends are important, not only for regular folk like us, but also for those in positions of power and influence.  I’m no scientist, but I know the importance of facts.  Data tells a story that goes beyond the personal heartaches and travails that surround us these days.  Pay attention to the numbers!

In this time of exploding numbers, NOW through mid-January at the least – please take extra precautions.  Stay home as much as you can, and make plans now for a different kind of Christmas, Hanukah and New Year celebration.  Wear a mask if you must go out, order groceries for pick-up or delivery, don’t stay long anywhere but home, and keep your distance more carefully than ever before.

Here are the Wednesday numbers – take note!

[Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today, around 8:45pm).  For a complete archive of County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE.  ALSO see important daily updates from the state of California at COVID19.CA.GOV, embedded here on the BenIndy at Cases and Deaths AND Hospitalizations AND ICU Beds by REGION.  Sorry, I can’t for the life of me explain the differences between Solano reporting and the State’s reporting….]

Wednesday, December 9: 173 (!) new cases overnight, no new deaths.  Since Feb: 12,123 cases, more than 600 hospitalized, 90 deaths.Compare previous report, Tuesday, Dec. 8:Summary

    • Solano County reported 173 (!) new cases overnight.  As of today, Solano has seen an average of 140 new cases per day over the last 14 days! (source: covid19.ca.gov)  Total of 12,123 cases since the outbreak started.
    • Deaths – no new deaths reported today, total of 90 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 75 more active cases today.  New total of 1,238 active cases, – a record high for Solano County.  Active cases have increased alarmingly lately – COMPARE: average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650 – and TODAY we are at 1,238!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – (For COVID19-CA.GOV info, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.)  CAUTION ON COUNTY REPORTING: According to Solano Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas, the County occasionally updates Age Group hospitalizations retroactively, adding substantial numbers.  Thus, many hospitalizations are never reported as CURRENTLY hospitalized.  Today, Solano County reported the number of CURRENTLY hospitalized persons increased by 4, total of 78, but TOTAL hospitalized since the outbreak began supposedly remained unchanged today, a total of 603 of all ages hospitalized since the outbreak began.  The County will likely update these figures at a later date.  [For my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats below.]
    • ICU Beds – (For COVID19-CA.GOV info see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County, and for REGIONAL data see COVID-19 ICU Bed Availability by REGION.)  The County reported a slight increase in ICU beds available today, up from 30% to 32%, just out of the yellow danger zone.
    • Testing – The County reports today that 636 residents were tested overnight, (dramatically down from yesterday’s record high of 5,720).  A total of 141,408 unduplicated residents have now been tested for COVID-19 since the outbreak began.  31.6% of Solano County’s 447,643 residents (2019) have been tested.

Positive Test Rate – Extremely high at 12.8%

Solano County reported another high 7-day average positive test rate today of 12.8%, barely down from yesterday’s 12.9%, far and away over the State’s purple tier threshold of 8%.  Average percent positive test rates are among the best metrics for measuring community spread of the virus.  The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate has also been on the rise lately, and down slightly today from yesterday’s 10.1% to 10.0%.  (Note that Solano County displays past weeks and months in a 7-day test positivity line graph which also shows daily results.  However, the chart does not display an accurate number of cases for the most recent days, as there is a lag time in receiving test results.  The 7-day curve therefore also lags behind due to unknown recent test results.) 

By Age Group
  • Youth 17 and under – 18 new cases today, total of 1,367 cases, representing 11.3% of the 12,123 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age group.  But cases among Solano youth rose steadily over the summer, from 5.6% of total cases on June 8 to 11% on August 31 and has plateaued at over 11% since September 30.  Youth are 22% of Solano’s general population, so this 11.x% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 14 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 95 (!) new cases today, total of 7,109 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents just under 60% of the total cases, by far the highest percentage of all age groups.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 194 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this young group today, total of 6 deaths.  Some in this group are surely at high risk, as many are providing essential services among us, and some may be ignoring public health orders.  I expect this group is a major factor in the spread of the virus.
  • Persons 50-64 years of age – 39 new cases today, total of 2,372 cases.  This age group represents nearly 20% of the 12,123 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 162 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths in this age group today, a total of 16 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 21 new cases today, total of 1,267, representing 10.5% of Solano’s 12,123 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 233 have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today.  A total of 68 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 76% of Solano’s 90 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 2 new cases today, total of 318 cases since the outbreak began. 
  • Dixon added 15 new cases today, total of 877 cases.
  • Fairfield added 54 new cases today, total of 3,603 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 5 new cases today, total of 105 cases.
  • Suisun City added 10 new cases today, total of 839 cases.
  • Vacaville added 49 new cases today, total of 2,553 cases.
  • Vallejo added 37 new cases today, total of 3,785 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas added 1 new case today, total of 43 cases.
Race / Ethnicity

The County report on race / ethnicity includes case numbers, hospitalizations, deaths and Solano population statistics.  This information is discouragingly similar to national reports that indicate significantly worse outcomes among black and brown Americans.  Note that all of this data surely undercounts Latinx Americans, as there is a large group of “Multirace / Others” which likely is composed mostly of Latinx members of our communities.

  • Asian Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 10% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 12% of cases, but 16% of hospitalizations, and 22% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 22% of cases, 26% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 26% of cases, 28% of hospitalizations and 34% of deaths.
More…

The County’s Coronavirus Dashboard is full of much more information, too extensive to cover here on a daily basis.  The Benicia Independent will continue to summarize daily and highlight significant portions.  For more, check out the Dashboard at https://doitgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=055f81e9fe154da5860257e3f2489d67.