Category Archives: Benicia CA

Solano COVID-19 UPDATE: Jan. avg of 296 new cases per day, avgs for Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun, Rio Vista, Vacaville, Dixon


By Roger Straw, January 28, 2021

Special today: January case numbers and daily averages BY CITY (below).  Stay home whenever possible – this is not over!

Thursday, January 28: 169 new Solano cases overnight, and again, 1 new death.  Since Feb: 27,486 cases, over 820 hospitalized, 122 deaths.Compare previous report, Wednesday, Jan. 27:Summary

[From Solano County Public Health and others, see sources below.  For a running archive of daily County updates, see my Excel ARCHIVE
    • Solano County reported 169 new cases overnight, total of 27,486 cases since the outbreak started.  In the first 28 days of January, Solano has added 8,275 new cases, for an AVERAGE of 296 new cases per day.
    • Deaths – 1 new death reported today, someone over 65 years of age, a total of 122 Solano deaths since the pandemic began.  There have been 17 COVID-related deaths in Solano County over the last 9 days, 2 aged 18-49 years, 15 others over 65 years of age.  While many other COVID stats are improving, these deaths are the final sad result of our holiday surge.
    • Active cases – Solano reported 33 more active cases today, a total of 1,505 active cases.  Compare: Solano’s average number of Active Cases during October was 284, average in November was 650, in December 1,658 – and TODAY we are at 1,505.  Better, but still a LOT!  Is the County equipped to contact trace so many infected persons?  Or do we just sit back and wait for a voluntary 10 day quarantine to expire.  Who knows?  To my knowledge, Solano has offered no reports on contact tracing.
    • Hospitalizations – (See expanding ICU capacity and ventilator availablity below.)  Today, Solano reported 1 fewer currently hospitalized cases, total of 137.  No change today in the number of hospitalizations among age groups.  (The County posted its “occasional” large group of updated numbers on hospitalizations among the age groups yesterday, adding 5 in the 50-64 year age group and 12 more in the 65+ age group, for a total of 820 hospitalized in all age groups since the pandemic began.) Even then, accuracy cannot be certain – note…  >>In a December 31 Fairfield Daily Republic article, reporter Todd Hanson wrote, “Since the start of the pandemic, and as of Wednesday, 9,486 residents have been hospitalized.”  This startling number is far and away above the number of residents hospitalized as indicated in the count of age group hospitalizations, and not available anywhere on the County’s COVID-19 dashboard.  Asked about his source, Hanson replied that Solano Public Health “had to do a little research on my behalf.”  It would be good if the County could add Total Hospitalized to its daily Dashboard update.  [For the numbers used in my manual calculation of total hospitalizations, see age group stats belowFor COVID19-CA.GOV numbers, see BenIndy page, COVID-19 Hospitalizations Daily Update for Solano County.]
    • ICU Beds – Solano hospitals recently expanded their ICU capacity [see Benicia Independent, “Why the sudden improvement in our ICU bed numbers?“]  Even with the expanded ICU capacity, Solano County has dropped into the YELLOW DANGER ZONE in ICU beds available today, but up from 10% yesterday, to 17% today.  The State’s COVID19-CA.GOV reported today that Solano County had ONLY 6 AVAILABLE ICU BEDS as of yesterday, January 27(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.)
    • Ventilators available – This week, for the first time since July 24 of last year, Solano County is reporting the percentage of ventilators available.  Today Solano hospitals have 41% of ventilators available, up from 26% yesterday but down substantially from last summer’s reports of 82-94% available.
Positive Test Rate – SOLANO TEST RATE REMAINS ALARMINGLY HIGH, 16.9% – VIRUS STILL SPREADING, STAY HOME!

Solano County reported our 7-day average positive test at an alarming rate of 16.9%, down a bit from yesterday’s 17.3%, but still more than 2 times 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.  COMPARE: The much lower and more stable California 7-day average test rate was down slightly from yesterday’s 7.7% to 7.5% today(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 overnight, total of 3,192 cases, representing 11.6% of the 27,486 total cases.  No new hospitalizations reported today among this age group, total of 17 since the outbreak began.  Thankfully, no deaths have ever been reported in Solano County in this age groupBut 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% may seem low.  The significance is this: youth are SERIOUSLY NOT IMMUNE (!) – in fact at least 17 of our youth have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.
  • Persons 18-49 years of age – 97 new cases overnight, total of 15,183 cases. This age group is 41% of the population in Solano, but represents 55.3% 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 241 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  Solano recorded no new deaths in this young group today, total of 9 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 – 38 new cases overnight, total of 5,732 cases.  This age group represents 20.9% of the 27,486 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today.  A total of 222 are reported to have been hospitalized since the outbreak began.  No new deaths were reported in this age group today, a total of 18 deaths.
  • Persons 65 years or older – 16 new cases overnight, total of 3,368, representing a high of 12.3% of Solano’s 27,486 total cases.  The County reported no new hospitalizations among persons in this age group today, a total of 340 hospitalized since the outbreak began.  1 new death was reported in this age group today.  A total of 95 of our elders have died of COVID, accounting for 78% of Solano’s 122 total deaths.
City Data
  • Benicia added 5 new cases overnight, total of 774 cases since the outbreak began.  266 new cases in January, avg. of 9.5 per day.
  • Dixon added 5 new cases overnight, total of 1,638 cases.  417 new cases in January, avg. of 15 per day.
  • Fairfield added 38 new cases overnight, total of 7,590 cases.  2,147 new cases in January, avg. of 77 per day.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new cases today, total of 262 cases.  97 new cases in January, avg. of 3 per day.
  • Suisun City added 14 new cases overnight, total of 1,879 cases.  533 new cases in January, avg. of 19 per day.
  • Vacaville added 33 new cases overnight, total of 7,223 cases.  2,369 new cases in January, avg. of 85 per day.
  • Vallejo added 73 new cases overnight, total of 8034 cases.  2,421 new cases in January, avg. of 86 per day.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 86 cases.  25 new cases in January, avg. of nearly 1 per day.
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 12% of cases, 12% of hospitalizations, and 17% of deaths.
  • Black Americans are 14% of Solano’s population, and account for 11% of cases, but 17% of hospitalizations, and 22% of deaths.
  • Latinx Americans are 26% of Solano’s population, but account for 13% of cases, 22% of hospitalizations, and 15% of deaths.
  • Multi-race / Others are 7% of Solano’s population, but account for 35% of cases, 18% of hospitalizations, and 12% of deaths.
  • White Americans are 39% of the population in Solano County, but only account for 29% of cases, 30% 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.

Source
Source: Solano County Coronavirus Dashboard (posted on the County website late today).  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.

Benicia Black Lives Matter on structural racism: ‘we still have a long way to go’

An email by Nimat Shakoor-Grantham, Benicia Black Lives Matter Organizer  [See also BBLM on Facebook, and “Our Voices” Interviews]

A Better Benicia

 

Hello Everyone,

I just read this powerful document from Elizabeth Patterson and I must say that I am experiencing a lot of emotions. I am very Happy that Elizabeth had the insight, awareness and courage to write this. She saw the apparent disparity and refused to remain silent as many people who shouldn’t remain silent choose to do.

If no one acknowledges and speaks out about such things, then such things will continue to happen. I found this writing very enlightening and encourage all to read it. This writing is not one of blame, but of shedding light on a problem that has remained in the dark for much too long.

I am saddened because situations like this still exist and not many people are even aware of it (“There’s no racism in Benicia”) . If people are aware of it, they are choosing not to speak; Maybe because the powers that be and community members at large don’t see this as an issue, they agree with this behavior, or are too timid to say anything, as some people think it best not to “Rock the Boat.”

I assure you that the Benicia Black Lives Movement (BBLM) is here to “Rock the Boat,” not by burning, looting or hating the police (as is the falsely applied stereotype), but by bringing to the attention of the government and the citizens of Benicia that events and issues of structural, conscious/unconscious racism, bias and social injustice will be identified, called out, fought against, and will certainly not be tolerated.

This is why I am so proud of Elizabeth for writing this document. The BBLM is collaborative and will not identify challenges that need to be addressed without working with the appropriate people toward the solution. I Thank the City Staff, Mayor, Past Mayor and City Council for the support you have shown us so far, but we still have a long way to go (as is made very clear by this attached writing). I again recommend that everyone read Elizabeth’s writing and work with us to create a better Benicia for All Citizens.

Sincerely,

Nimat Shakoor-Grantham
Benicia Black Lives Matter Organizer 
https://www.facebook.com/BeniciaBLM
https://beniciablacklivesmatter.com/interviews

 

Analysis and illustration of structural racism in Benicia

From an email by Elizabeth Patterson, former Mayor, City of Benicia
Elizabeth Patterson, former Mayor, City of Benicia

EL PAT’S FORUM
by ELIZABETH PATTERSON
Benicia, California

STRUCTURAL RACISM IN BENICIA

I have no doubt that the Benicia City Council members earnestly want to address structural racism. No one wants to be a racist and most people seek to avoid racists acts.

So, what is structural racism? I am going to describe two examples – one locally in Benicia and the other at the federal level.

Benicia City Council, August 2020

Last fall the city council responded to city staff’s recommendation to address the urgent and timely requests of the local group Benicia Black Lives Matter (BBLM). The three legs of staff recommendations are:

  1. establish a commission for equity and inclusiveness
  2. initiate through a consultant an “Equity Indicators” analysis in Benicia, and
  3. hire a part-time Equity and Diversity Manager, 30 hours/week at an estimated cost of $133,000 per year.

When the recommendation was presented to Council by staff and BBLM members many council members were quick to offer ideas about what they thought the BBLM needed. One could almost feel the insult that a white city council was telling the panel of four BBLM members what they needed. After some discussion, a 4/1 council majority put aside most of their objections and accepted the recommendations, but with amendments.  (Council Meeting of Aug 25, 2020 Item 11A, Agenda / MINUTES / Video [Item 11.A beginning at minute 19:35]).

There was a lot of haggling over the cost of the part-time Equity and Diversity Manager. After lengthy discussion and in an effort to get to “yes” the council majority made the position temporary so future councils could determine if they wanted to restore the position to permanent status. It is the haggling over the cost that I want to highlight.

Compare Benicia City Council, December 2020…

Recently, the city council had a thorough and thoughtful discussion on updating the city’s impact fees. Details can be found at on the city website (Council Meeting of Dec 15, 2020 Item 15B, Agenda / MINUTES / Video [Item 15.A beginning at minute 54:30]).

Much time was taken up by the council discussing how much the city should impose fees to recover costs of the impacts from commercial and residential development. Staff provided data about what 100% recovery of costs would be and recommended in most cases the city impose less than 100%. These fees were established after nearly two years of staff and consultants reviewing other cities, evaluating city capitol needs and the nexus of the impact of new development or expansion of existing businesses. Seventy-five percent was the recommendation in most cases. This is customary in Benicia and not contrary to the General Plan goal that development pays its own way. The intent in the general plan is to recover the costs of development and more intense business activity impacts to parks, roads, pipes, wastewater and so forth from large developers – think Seeno or Valero. The real costs were not done in the past and Benicia taxpayers continue to pay the price for not assessing those impact fees to the new developments.

I agree with and have supported modest subsidization of individual residential development and small businesses. The subsidy should not be a giveaway but should fall in line with other Solano cities’ rates.

But you would not have heard that sentiment at the council meeting. A member of the public in the development business for small residential projects (small in terms of one to four units but not a major subdivision) spoke about the cost of materials and labor in addition to land costs, permit costs and, of course, the impact fees. Council members expressed understanding and sympathy for the challenge of residential development.

It is noteworthy that those same rising material costs and increasing labor costs are paid by the city, and yet the city is being asked to absorb the impact costs.

Structural Racism in Benicia

This is where the structural racism comes in. In December, the city staff was asked what – in approximate numbers – did the city get from all the impact fees charged in the last fiscal year. Staff hesitated in providing a number because it is complicated and risks comparing apples and oranges. The number eventually offered the council was approximately $230,000. And Vice Mayor Campbell noted that $230,000 was “nothing to the general fund” and the city could almost forgo impact fees.

But go back to August and BBLM: Council members said that $133,000 (highest pay level for a position with benefits) was too expensive and we couldn’t afford it.

Impact fees cannot be spent on anything but capital projects. But if the impact fees are largely subsidized and the city has to pay the market rate for material and labor, taxpayers pick up the remainder of the subsidized capital costs. Without adequate impact fees, we live with poor and unsafe roads for bicyclists and pedestrians and other capital infrastructure such as completing the library basement, ensuring water supply capacity and parks. Inadequate funded development impacts pushes the needed capitol infrastructure costs to the general fund – forgoing $230,000 is a cost to other programs such as art and culture, human services, adequate planning staff, retaining employees and so on.

The structural racism is clear. A council will say the city cannot afford programs that might have been beneficial to Black and brown people, but can afford to subsidize market rate housing and businesses. You get the idea.

Structural racism is this kind of unconscious bias in decision making that we can afford some things that are beneficial to the mostly white Benicia and cannot afford programs that would help Blacks gain parity with white wealth.

When the city completes its study on Equity Indicators, we will see more clearly and concretely what impediments to racial equity exist in Benicia. But it is apparent that not adequately funding programs and staff to investigate racial equity and make recommendations is good example.

Structural Racism in Washington, D.C.

The Federal example is so blatant that I will take less time to highlight here. At present, Congress will not provide COVID-19 relief funds to state and city governments to help pay public school teachers, public safety, public health and so on to provide services for all residents. In this case, the disproportionate effects of COVID_19 on black, brown, indigenous, pacific islanders and women is classic, and shines a light on structural racism at the highest levels.

We can agree on the problem that there are massive disparities between people driving buses, working in grocery stores, nursing homes, assisted living, hospitals, janitors – and the majority of higher paid workers able to work at home. Add to this problem the burden carried by women – white, brown, Black – who often have lost their job because it is a lower-end job or can’t work because of the cost of childcare and the need to provide online schooling.

City and state agencies are running out of funds to provide childcare, unemployment, teachers and substitute teachers, social workers, and other essential workers – all of which will help with depression and increasing suicides. And Congress refuses to provide relief funds to states so that this can be done.

In addition, some experts say that stimulus checks are not sufficiently targeted toward those most in need. To extract stimulus checks as a concession from Republicans, Democrats were forced not only to forfeit state and local aid but also to shorten the duration of the enhanced unemployment program to three months from four.

That is structural racism in Washington, D.C. America has been doing that since we used US Bonds to finance the slave trade. We have done that by preventing Blacks from moving into residential development with good schools and thus handicapping the next generation in education. Others have catalogued and documented federal actions that have led to the wealth gap between Blacks and whites.

Next time…

The next time you hear someone say we can’t afford a program that is directed at helping to close the wealth gap, be sure to respond that we can’t afford not to.

This is the time for us to shine and do the right thing and I believe we will. . . 2021 is our New Year for getting it right after all.

Times-Herald coverage of COVID violation at Raley’s Benicia

Maskless holiday party at Benicia Raley’s draws concern

Vallejo Times-Herald, by Katy St. Clair, December 31, 2020
Raley’s Benicia holiday party, maskless employees, not socially distanced (Source: Raley’s Benicia Facebook, December 24, 2020 – posted here by the Benicia Independent, not Vallejo Times-Herald)

It began with a social media post of various employees of a Raley’s store in Benicia, smiling for pictures around tables at a potluck holiday party on Christmas Eve — many not wearing masks.

The usual comments began — people horrified that a store would ignore both social distancing and masks, especially while eating. Then “anti-maskers” chimed in about how the virus is overblown. Most importantly, rumors began to spread that several employees at the Benicia store have been out sick.

One employee of Raley’s told the Times-Herald that at least one person at the potluck has contracted COVID-19.

“I was told by a manager in confidence that there have been 21 people total who have gotten COVID-19 who work here,” said the employee. “They are trying to keep it a secret.”

The employee spoke to the Times-Herald on condition of anonymity.

City of Benicia officials say they were told by store management that the store was “currently are not aware of any cases.”

Richard Rodriguez, team leader and general manager at the Benicia Raley’s, denies that 20 employees have been sick with COVID-19.

“No,” he laughed, “that’s not true not at all,” but he said that all further questions should be directed to Ashley Campas at the corporate office, who was not available for comment.

The city, meanwhile, released a statement about the store:

“It has been brought to our attention … that word is spreading on social media of a large number of employees at Raley’s testing positive for COVID-19 … City staff have contacted management and they have indicated that they currently are not aware of any positive cases, although a potluck was held over the holidays.”

“It’s a lie. It’s just a lie,” said the employee. “And that’s what’s concerning me. With everybody that is sick now — the first COVID case here was back in March, so you have to understand that this has been going on for a long time.”

“The city is aware of the party that was held at Raley’s and the concern it has generated,” Mayor Steve Young told the Times-Herald. “We are waiting for confirmation as to whether there are, in fact, employees who have tested positive. Our first concern remains the health and safety of the community as well as the workers.”

The Benicia Independent says that the Solano County Public Health department is investigating, something the Times-Herald has yet to be able to corroborate. But photos show that the store has gone against state regulations for essential workers, with employees at the potluck not wearing protective face coverings and gloves. The State of California requires that all employees wear face masks or coverings at all times.

Raley’s Benicia holiday party, masked employees, not socially distanced (Source: Raley’s Benicia Facebook, December 24, 2020 – posted here by the Benicia Independent, not Vallejo Times-Herald)

As for the denial from store general manager Rodriguez, the employee was miffed that their manager would laugh at the question.

“It hurts my heart that the management thinks this is funny or is a joke,” they said, adding that many there feel that they have to live with the risks involved with working there because they need the job. According to the source, they aren’t given gloves by the store and there is no organization around getting masks or other precautionary things.

“The health department came in yesterday so guess what? I got my temperature taken today and we suddenly have hand sanitizer.”

“In the midst of this dangerous surge of the virus, it is so important that every business and citizen respects and follows the safety protocols put in place for our protection,” Young said.