Category Archives: Coronavirus

Benicia Herald, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Solano County Health Department, Solano Supervisor Monica Brown, Vaccine, Vaccine booster

Benicia Herald: COVID-19 data from Solano County and the State show large discrepancy in deaths

COVID-19 data from Solano County and the State show large discrepancy in deaths

The Benicia Herald, by Galen Kusic, Editor, October 17, 2021
[Print edition only, link not available. Subscribe to the print edition at beniciacirculation@gmail.com or phone 707-745-6838.  MORE]

As it appears a fourth wave of COVID-19 has begun to dissipate throughout the country, numbers remain alarmingly high in Solano County compared to the greater Bay Area.

The current 5.4 percent positivity rate is the best in months, but there are still 40 patients hospitalized and only 13 percent of ICU beds are available. The most alarming trend is the uptick in deaths, with 312 – an increase of 22 since Sept. 24, an average of one per day.

Yet what may be even more alarming is the discrepancy of deaths reported from the state and the county. As of Fri. Oct. 15, the state of Calif. reports that Solano County has a total of 334 deaths since the pandemic began – a difference of 22 deaths. The state also reports that the positivity rate is only 2.4 percent, half of what Solano County currently reports.

The first round of mass vaccination clinics recently started at the Solano County Fairgrounds for Pfizer booster shots or for those that have still not received the vaccine.

“78 percent of those testing positive in Solano County are unvaccinated,” said Solano County Supervisor Monica Brown. “Getting vaccinated protects you, protects your family, protects your community, protects our businesses, protects everyone.”

In Benicia, cases have slowed, but stayed steady. With 84.7 percent of the population vaccinated, only Rio Vista has a higher vaccination rate in the County at 89.3 percent. Vallejo (83.1) and Dixon (80.2) are not far behind. Since Sept. 24, Benicia has recorded 84 new cases, an average of four cases per day, a slight uptick from three weeks ago for a total of 1,496 since the pandemic began.

The City of Benicia on Mon. implemented a vaccine mandate for City employees. As of three weeks ago, only 62 percent of the Benicia Fire Department had been vaccinated.

“Those not vaccinated will be required to be tested weekly and wear a mask while indoors at City facilities,” said City Manager Erik Upson in his weekly update. “We did not step into this lightly, but felt it was needed to help protect the safety of our staff and our community.”

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine

Solano COVID hospitalizations up, only 11% of ICU beds available, 3 new deaths

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  CLICK HERE for today’s latest information.
By Roger Straw, Monday, October 18, 2021

Monday, October 18: Solano County reports 148 new infections over the weekend, remaining in the CDC’s SUBSTANTIAL 7-day transmission rate.  Benicia remains in the HIGH 7-day transmission rate.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: Solano reported 3 new COVID-related deaths today.  The County has reported 45 COVID deaths just since Sept 1.  A total of 315 Solano residents have died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES: The County reported 148 new COVID cases over the weekend, 49 per day.  AGES – TRENDING YOUNGER: 39 of these 148 cases (26%) were youth and children under 18.  48% were age 18-49, only 14% were age 50-64, and only 5% were 65+.

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen SUBSTANTIAL community transmission, with 430 new cases, up from 406 at last report.  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 cases in 7 days would move Solano up into the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate, and we would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 284 ACTIVE cases is down substantially from Friday’s 397, but still far above our summer rates.

CASES BY CITY on Monday, October 18:

    • Benicia added 11 new cases today, a total of 1,507 cases since the outbreak began.  TRANSMISSION RATE: Benicia has seen 40 new cases over the last 7 days, continuing in the CDC’s definition of HIGH community transmission (defined as 28 or more cases, based on Benicia population – SEE CHART BELOW).  [Note that Solano County is currently experiencing SUBSTANTIAL transmission.

    • Dixon added 7 new cases today, total of 2,525 cases.
    • Fairfield added 33 new cases today, total of 12,126 cases.
    • Rio Vista added 7 new cases today, total of 599 cases.
    • Suisun City added 9 new cases today, total of 3,203 cases.
    • Vacaville added 32 new cases today, a total of 11,881 cases.
    • Vallejo added 49 new cases today, a total of 13,278 cases.
    • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 139 cases (population figures not available).

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Solano’s 7-day average percent positivity rate dropped to 3.0% today, down substantially from Friday’s 5.7%, and the lowest we’ve seen in 13 months, on September 18, 2020!  (This number is so low, I’m suspicious of a data error.  Let’s hope we continue at this low rate….)  COMPARE: today’s California rate is 1.6% and today’s U.S. rate is 5.7%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were up today from 40 to 47 persons, and far above the range we saw during last summer.

ICU Bed Availability is alarmingly low again today, down from 13% on Friday to only 11% today, just barely above the 10% red warning zone.  We remain in the worrisome range we saw during last winter’s surge.

Ventilator Availability is up today from 52% to 61%, but still in the range of last winter’s surge.

TOTAL hospitalizations: Solano County’s TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  The County did not update its Hospitalizations charts today.

FACE MASKS… Required for all in Benicia and Vallejo

Benicia City Council passed a citywide indoors mask mandate that went into effect on August 24 and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  Benicia was joined by Vallejo on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against a mask mandate for public indoors spaces.

SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS failed to consider an agendized proposal for a countywide MASK MANDATE on Tuesday, September 14.  Recent Bay Area news put Solano in a sad light: all other county health officers issued a joint statement offering details on when they would be able to lift mask mandates (not likely soon).  TV news anchors had to point out that Solano would not be considering such a move since our health officer had not been able to “justify” a mask mandate in the first place.  The Solano Board of Supervisors has joined with Dr. Bela Matyas in officially showing poor leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic.

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 on my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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
California schools, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Hospitals, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Kaiser supports CA student vaccine requirement to protect students, faculty, staff

Kaiser requires its own staff to be vaccinated, calls on other organizations to do likewise

Kaiser is now mandating vaccinations for all its employees. Jason Pierce, Sacramento Bee file.
Kaiser supports governor on student vaccines
Vallejo Times-Herald, by Greg A. Adams, Kaiser Permanente Chair and CEO, October 14, 2021

After a year-and-a-half of this virus controlling and taking away lives, we know that vaccination is the most powerful tool we have to stop this pandemic, to prevent more dangerous strains from developing, and to restore the freedom of safety and normalcy.

COVID Vaccination Required for California School Children – Oct. 1, 2021, Variety

Kaiser Permanente supports California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s strong and timely action today to protect students, faculty and staff who have returned to in-person learning by requiring eligible students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend schools for in-person instruction, once approved by the Food and Drug Administration, beginning in 2022. This is an important step that will protect students and school employees across the state who have returned to full, in-person instruction this school year.

As a health care organization, Kaiser Permanente has an obligation to our 12.5 million members and patients — and to our employees, physicians, and communities to ensure their safety and to protect them from infection.

When we announced our vaccination requirement on Aug. 2, our overall employee and physician vaccination rate was 78 percent. Since then, we have made remarkable progress: Today, 92 percent of our employees have been vaccinated — and the number continues to grow. As part of Kaiser Permanente’s commitment to lead vaccine efforts across the country, we are calling on other organizations, big and small, to mandate the vaccine for their employees, customers, constituents, and other stakeholders.

We deeply appreciate the extraordinary commitment and dedication of all Kaiser Permanente employees and physicians throughout our response to the pandemic, especially those who have been serving on the front lines to fight this deadly virus. We encourage everyone to play a role in ending the pandemic by getting the safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine.

— Greg A. Adams/Kaiser Permanente Chair and CEO
#wearamask, Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Hospitalizations, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine

Solano County’s 7-day COVID transmission rate drops from HIGH to SUBSTANTIAL, holds relatively steady for a week

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  CLICK HERE for today’s latest information.
By Roger Straw, Friday, October 15, 2021

Friday, October 15: Solano County reports 75 new infections, remains in the CDC’s SUBSTANTIAL transmission rate.  Benicia still in HIGH transmission rate.

Solano County COVID dashboard SUMMARY:
[Sources: see below.]

DEATHS: Solano reported no new COVID-related deaths today.  The County has reported 42 COVID deaths just since Sept 1.  A total of 312 Solano residents have died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES: The County reported 75 new COVID cases over the last two days, 37 per day.  AGES: 11 of these 75 cases (15%) were youth and children under 18.  64% were age 18-49, 11% were age 50-64, and only 9% were 65+.

COMMUNITY TRANSMISSION RATE: Over the last 7 days, Solano has seen SUBSTANTIAL community transmission, with 406 new cases, down from 413 on Wednesday.  450 cases in 7 days would move Solano up into the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate, and we would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

(CDC FORMULA: 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.  Reference: CDC’s “Level of SARS-CoV-2 Community Transmission”.]

ACTIVE CASES: Solano’s 397 ACTIVE cases is up slightly from Wednesday’s 396, and still far above our summer rates.

CASES BY CITY on Friday, October 15:

    • Benicia added 5 new cases today, a total of 1,496 cases since the outbreak began.  TRANSMISSION RATE: Benicia has seen 29 new cases over the last 7 days, continuing in the CDC’s definition of HIGH community transmission (defined as 28 or more cases, based on Benicia population – SEE CHART BELOW).  [Note that Solano County is currently experiencing SUBSTANTIAL transmission.

    • Dixon added 8 new cases today, total of 2,518 cases.
    • Fairfield added 21 new cases today, total of 12,093 cases.
    • Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 592 cases.
    • Suisun City added 4 new cases today, total of 3,194 cases.
    • Vacaville added 15 new cases today, a total of 11,849 cases.
    • Vallejo added 21 new cases today, a total of 13,229 cases.
    • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 139 cases (population figures not available).

POSITIVE TEST RATE:  Solano’s 7-day average percent positivity rate was 5.7% today, down substantially from Wednesday’s 7.2%.  COMPARE: today’s California rate is 1.6% and today’s U.S. rate is 5.8%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT hospitalizations were up today from 37 to 40 persons, and still far above the range we saw during last summer.

ICU Bed Availability is down alarmingly today, from 27% on Wednesday to only 13% today, still yellow, but nearing the red warning zone.  We remain in the worrisome range we saw during last winter’s surge.

Ventilator Availability is up today from 46% to 52%, but still in the range of last winter’s surge.

TOTAL hospitalizations: Solano County’s TOTAL hospitalized over the course of the pandemic must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  The County updated its Hospitalizations charts today.  See below.  The differing race/ethnicity numbers indicate a number of persons whose race/ethnicity was not given or recorded.

FACE MASKS… Required for all in Benicia and Vallejo

Benicia City Council passed a citywide indoors mask mandate that went into effect on August 24 and includes everyone 4 years old and up when indoors in public places, even those of us who are vaccinated.  Benicia was joined by Vallejo on August 31.  In the Bay Area, Solano County REMAINS the only holdout against a mask mandate for public indoors spaces.

SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS failed to consider an agendized proposal for a countywide MASK MANDATE on Tuesday, September 14.  Last week’s Bay Area news put Solano in a sad light: all other county health officers issued a joint statement offering details on when they would be able to lift mask mandates (not likely soon).  TV news anchors had to point out that Solano would not be considering such a move since our health officer had not been able to “justify” a mask mandate in the first place.  The Solano Board of Supervisors has joined with Dr. Bela Matyas in officially showing poor leadership on the COVID-19 pandemic.

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 on my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday 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