Category Archives: Re-opening

Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID-19 tier assignments, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Solano County secures move to orange tier, then discloses large number of previously unreported cases and 5 new deaths

By Roger Straw, Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Solano County reports 104 new infections today, and 5 new deaths.  82 of the newly reported cases are from Vacaville…

Solano County COVID report on Tuesday, June 1.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

Solano County reported 104 new COVID cases over the 4-day weekend,  82 of them from Vacaville.  I suspect the County is playing “catch-up” with previously-unreported cases from Vacaville.  Monthly: We saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In May, Solano reported 920 new cases, an average of 30 per day.

Solano County also reported 5 new COVID deaths today, a total of 243 deaths here since the pandemic began.  2 of the 5 reported today were age 50-64, and 3 were 65+ years of age.

SOLANO NOW IN ORANGE TIER – Solano County was finally moved into the orange tier today, the last Bay Area County to leave the red tier.  See details in the County’s press release, also in the account of the Vallejo Times-Herald.

JUNE 15 RE-OPENING – Solano County Public Health highlighted on its dashboard last week that the State of California will discontinue COVID tier assignments on June 15.  The County references a thorough but outdated California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announcement of April 4, 2021.  A more current but less detailed CDPH announcement is “Beyond the Blueprint for Industry and Business Sectors – Effective June 15.”  The ending of the State’s tier system is being hailed as a return to normal, but it falls short of that for Mega Events (gatherings of crowds greater than 5,000 [indoors] and 10,000 [outdoors]).  And… ALL of us are advised to get vaccinated and continue to take precautions when sharing indoors air with others who may or may not be vaccinated.

MASKS – Governor’s update: “California will align its mask guidance with CDC’s on June 15, 2021.  California will keep existing mask guidance in place until June 15 when it aims to fully reopen the economy. After that, the state plans to allow fully-vaccinated Californians to go without a mask in most indoor settings. You will still have the option to wear a mask if you choose.”  Governor’s update based on a May 3 CDPH guidance.

Solano’s Active cases are now at 212 up from Friday’s 181.  Our percent positivity rate rose dramatically today from 4.9% to 10.6%.

>> The virus is still active here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask in crowds and social distance if you’re not sure who’s vaccinated!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Tuesday, June 1:  Something is clearly now (or sometime in the past) going on in Vacaville!

  • Benicia remained steady today, total of 999 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon added 1 case today, total of 1,917 cases.
  • Fairfield added 12 new cases today, total of 9,074 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 1 new case today, total of 388 cases.
  • Suisun City remained steady today, total of 2,279 cases.
  • Vacaville added 82 new cases today (!) – total of 8,772 cases.
  • Vallejo added 8 new cases today, total of 9,865 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Friday, May 28:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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
COVID-19 tier assignments, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Solano County moves to orange tier, finally leaves red behind

Solano County moving into orange tier

Vallejo Times-Herald, by Thomas Gase & Nick Sestanovich, June 1, 2021

This summer is looking to be less restrictive than last, as the state of California announced Tuesday that Solano County will be moving into the orange tier of the state’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy.

The blueprint establishes tiers for businesses and other entities to reopen following last year’s shutdowns as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The state is on track to remove the tiers entirely starting June 15, effectively removing nearly all restrictions for businesses.

Solano County has been in the red tier since March, having previously been in the most restrictive purple tier for four months. The county had previous been in the red tier from September to November.

Under this reopening:

  • Restaurants are now allowed to serve meals indoors at 50 percent capacity or a maximum of 200 people, whichever is fewer. This also applies to wineries, breweries and distilleries that serve meals.
  • Breweries, wineries and distilleries that do not serve meals may open indoors with modifications, including 25 percent capacity indoors or a maximum of 100 people, whichever is fewer.
  • Retailers may operate indoors with modifications.
  • Movie theaters and places of worship may operate indoors at 50 percent capacity or a maximum of 200 people, whichever is fewer.
  • Gyms, health club and yoga studios can operate indoors at 25 percent capacity.
  • Graduation ceremonies can be held outdoors at 33 percent capacity with assigned seating and additional modifications.

The reason for the move to the orange tier was a continuing decrease in cases to below six per 100,000, low hospitalizations and more than 225,000 residents receiving at least one vaccine dose, according to a Solano County news release.

Dr. Bela Matyas, Solano’s public health officer, said the county qualified for the orange tier based on a significant decrease in cases per day, positivity rates and its health equity metric, which measures positivity rates in disproportionately impacted areas. Hospitalizations have also been low as of late.

Vaccinations were also up, with 64 percent of eligible residents ages 16 and older and 62 percent of residents ages 12 and older receiving the COVID-19 vaccine as of Friday, Matyas said.

When the state lifts its restrictions June 15, Matyas said Solano would lift all of its requirements although health officials will still recommend businesses retain precautions that are easy to retain if they choose to do so, such as physical barriers at restaurants or hand sanitizer dispensers.

“Things that have involved investments already made, I would think would be easy to maintain,” he said.

Additionally, Matyas said the California Division of Occupational and Safety Hazards (Cal/OSHA) may continue to require certain precautions of its employers.

Armando Gomez, a manager at Napoli Pizzeria & Italian Food in Vallejo, was pleased for the change.

“Personally, I’m excited,” Gomez said. “We get to fill up some more tables that were empty. We had four tables inside and now we can do about eight. We’ve managed to hang on there during this pandemic but this will also help.”

Solano County Public Health Administrator Jayleen Richards said there were some other benefits about moving up to the orange tier, even if the removal of tiers is just two weeks away.

“Yes we are pleased we are able to open up more and although the tiers will be gone soon we don’t view this as too little, too late,” Richards said. “This coming week we have a few graduations and some of them will be able to benefit with larger size restrictions. I know Vacaville was planning on doing just one ceremony instead of two if they could get the necessary requirements.”

Benicia, Vallejo and Jesse Bethel high schools had previously planned to do two ceremonies. The schools may be able to do one now depending on it of its maximum capacity requirements.

Richards said there were a few reasons for the upgrade in tiers.

“I believe it’s just more and more people getting vaccinated,” Richards said. “We were also expecting an increase in COVID-19 cases after Mother’s Day and it wasn’t that bad. It seems everyone was doing a good job and social distancing during that weekend. However, some places are still at a higher risk and will need to continue to use precautions.”

Two other Bay Area counties in the orange tier — Napa and Alameda — could be eligible to move to the yellow tier by next Tuesday. That would leave Sonoma, Solano and Contra Costa counties as the only remaining orange tier counties in the region.

Statewide, 48 percent of Californians live in yellow tier counties. And only four counties — Del Norte, Shasta, Yuba and Stanislaus — remain in the red tier indicating a “substantial” COVID-19 spread. There are no counties in the most restrictive purple tier.

For more information, go to Solanocounty.com/depts/ph/coronavirus.asp.

Bay Area News Group contributed to this story.

COVID-19 tier assignments, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

State moves Solano County into orange tier

Solano County moves into the less restrictive Orange Tier of the State’s Blueprint for a Safer Economy, effective June 2

Press Release by Solano County, June 1, 2021

SOLANO COUNTY – The State of California announced today that Solano County will move from the Red Tier into the less restrictive Orange Tier of the Blueprint for a Safer Economy effective Wednesday, June 2, 2021. The California tier-based metrics have helped provide a framework for reopening businesses, schools and other community venues.

In the last two weeks, Solano County has seen a continued decline in case rate to below 6 per 100,000 to qualify for the orange tier. COVID-19 related hospitalizations remain low, and 225,477 county residents have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We are seeing a substantial decrease in the spread of COVID-19 in our community, therefore enabling us to move down to the next tier and expanding capacity for our businesses,” said Bela T. Matyas, M.D., M.P.H., Solano County Health Officer.  “While we are nearing the end of the pandemic, we continue to encourage our community members to get vaccinated to protect themselves from severe illness and death. Solano Public Health remains dedicated to eliminating barriers to vaccinate the community against COVID-19 by focusing on providing pop-up clinics – meeting people where they are.”

MOVING FROM THE RED TIER INTO THE ORANGE TIER ALLOWS:

  • Restaurants, including wineries, breweries and distilleries that serve meals, can operate indoors with 50 percent capacity or a maximum of 200 people, whichever is fewer
  • Breweries, wineries, and distilleries that do not serve meals may open indoors with modifications, including 25 percent capacity indoors, or 100 people, whichever is fewer
  • Retail establishments can operate indoors with modifications
  • Movie theaters and places of worship can operate indoors with 50 percent capacity or a maximum of 200 people, whichever is fewer
  • Gyms and health clubs, including yoga studios, can operate indoors with 25 percent capacity
  • Graduation and commencement ceremonies can be held outdoors at 33 percent capacity with assigned seating and other modifications

COVID-19 INFORMATION
For more information on COVID-19, visit the following websites, including:

  1. Resources for industry guidance – https://Covid19.Ca.Gov/Safer-Economy/
  2. COVID-19 vaccine information in Solano County – www.SolanoCounty.com/CovidVaccine
  3. COVID-19 statistics, including cases and vaccinations – www.SolanoCounty.com/COVID19
  4. Vaccine clinics throughout the State of California – https://MyTurn.Ca.Gov
  5. Solano County Public Health Facebook – www.Facebook.com/SolanoCountyPH
Benicia CA, Coronavirus, Covid 19, COVID-19 tier assignments, Re-opening, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas

Four new COVID deaths reported in Solano County today, 32 new infections

By Roger Straw, Friday, May 28, 2021

Solano County reports 32 new infections today, and 4 new deaths.  Stay safe, and remember…

Solano County COVID report on Friday, May 28.
[Source: see far below.  See also my ARCHIVE spreadsheet of daily Solano COVID updates.]
Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard – SUMMARY:

Solano County reported 32 new COVID cases today adding to yesterday’s 43 new cases.  We saw 1,288 new cases in April, an average of 43 per day.  In the first 28 days of May, Solano reported 816 new cases, an average of 29 per day.

Solano County also reported 4 new COVID deaths today, a total of 238 deaths here since the pandemic began.  The four reported today were all seniors over 65 years of age.

JUNE 15 RE-OPENING – Solano County Public Health highlighted on its dashboard this week that the State of California will discontinue COVID tier assignments on June 15.  The County references a thorough but outdated California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announcement of April 4, 2021.  A more current but less detailed CDPH announcement is “Beyond the Blueprint for Industry and Business Sectors – Effective June 15.”  The ending of the State’s tier system is being hailed as a return to normal, but it falls short of that for Mega Events (gatherings of crowds greater than 5,000 [indoors] and 10,000 [outdoors]).  And… ALL of us are advised to get vaccinated and continue to take precautions when sharing indoors air with others who may or may not be vaccinated.

RED TIER / ORANGE TIER – Solano County remains in the red tier, unlike all other Bay Area counties which have moved into less restrictive tiers.  The Sacramento Bee reported on the State’s tier update on Tuesday, “Just eight counties remain in red.  Half of them — Sacramento, Nevada, San Joaquin and Solano — came in below six cases per 100,000 and may therefore move to orange next week if their rates hold below that mark. The other four — Del Norte, Shasta, Stanislaus and Yuba — came in over the threshold.”  (Note that Solano Public Health Department does not include ‘cases per 100,000’ in it’s daily update, and it’s only one of several metrics the State uses in determining tier assignments.  Stay tuned….)

MASKS – Governor’s update: “California will align its mask guidance with CDC’s on June 15, 2021.  California will keep existing mask guidance in place until June 15 when it aims to fully reopen the economy. After that, the state plans to allow fully-vaccinated Californians to go without a mask in most indoor settings. You will still have the option to wear a mask if you choose.”  Governor’s update based on a May 3 CDPH guidance.

Solano’s Active cases are now at 181 down slightly from yesterday’s 184.  Our percent positivity rate rose today from 4.4% to 4.9%.

>> The virus is still active here.  Stay safe, get vaccinated, wear a mask in crowds and social distance if you’re not sure who’s vaccinated!  We will get through this together.

Cases by City on Friday, May 28:

  • Benicia added 2 new cases today, total of 999 cases since the outbreak began.
  • Dixon added 1 case today, total of 1,916 cases.
  • Fairfield added 13 new cases today, total of 9,062 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 2 new cases today, total of 387 cases.
  • Suisun City added 2 new cases today, total of 2,279 cases.
  • Vacaville added 9 new cases today, total of 8,690 cases.
  • Vallejo added only 3 new cases today, total of 9,857 cases.
  • Unincorporated areas remained steady today, total of 103 cases.

COMPARE: Screenshots from Solano County COVID Dashboard on Thursday, May 27:

The data on this page is from today’s and the previous Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated weekdays 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