NBC Bay Area News, August 31, 2021
Solano County is the only Bay Area county that still does not have a mask mandate, but on Tuesday, its biggest city voted to go its own way.
SolanoNews.net, by Matthew Keys, August 30, 2021
Solano County’s top health officer is still resisting calls for a region-wide indoor mask mandate and other proactive steps toward combatting the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, even as new data shows the rate of infection, hospitalization and deaths attributed to the virus continues to climb.
New information released this week showed more than 40,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Solano County, with an additional 677 cases confirmed between last Friday evening and Monday afternoon.
The actual rate of positive cases is likely higher, since data is reported on a delay due to the methods used by officials in Solano County and elsewhere to confirm new cases.
For weeks, Solano County Public Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas has resisted calls for a mandate that would force customers and others in indoor public spaces to wear face masks. That lack of action prompted city officials in Benicia to implement an indoor mask mandate of their own; officials in Vallejo is debating a similar requirement this week. [Vallejo order approved – see update.]
Local hospitals are feeling the crunch of this inaction: Federal data cited by KCRA-TV (Channel 3) revealed NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield is quickly running out of available hospital bed space, including in its intensive care unit. Similar situations are playing out at hospitals operated by Kaiser Permanente, the television station reported.
In local media interviews, Dr. Matyas claims an indoor mask mandate would do little to curb the spread of the coronavirus, including the more-contagious “Delta variant.” Without citing specific evidence, Dr. Matyas claims the majority of people who become infected with COVID-19 are exposed at private gatherings, not in public, and those calling for an indoor mask mandate are doing so for political reasons.
But in other Bay Area counties, the week-over-week rate of infection slowed and, in some cases, even dropped once indoor mask mandates were rolled out, according to data published by the New York Times and reviewed by Solano NewsNet. San Francisco and Marin counties have seen a sharp decline in new infections since implementing an indoor mask mandate in early August. Solano County, on the other hand, has the highest seven-day average of new cases, with well over 100 new cases reported each day, the data shows.
This week, Solano County officials reported four new deaths attributed to COVID-19 infections. Those four cases included two individuals who had received a COVID-19 vaccine, which does not prevent infection.
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In early August, eight Bay Area counties reinstated mask mandates in indoor public spaces due to the spread of the Delta variant. Solano County was the only one that didn’t.
Last week, the city of Benicia broke with the county by approving — by a unanimous city council vote — its own indoor mask mandate.
Today, we speak with the city’s mayor about this decision, and what it says about differences within Solano County.
Guest: Steve Young, Mayor of Benicia
TRANSCRIPT…
Ericka Cruz Guevarra: [00:00:00] I’m Erica Cruz Guevarra, and you’re listening to The Bay, local news to keep you rooted. Mask requirements are pretty common here in the Bay Area, except where I’m at in Solano County, but last week the city of Benicia decided to break away with the rest of the county by passing its own indoor mascot mandate.
Steve Young: [00:00:23] If people had a different attitude about this thing, it would be done. We wouldn’t be having this conversation. We wouldn’t have people continuing to die all across the country. And it’s making it so partisan and political is not in anybody’s interest today.
[…continued…]
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.
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.
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!
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