San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases are still on the rise, including three new deaths in their latest newsletter.
As of Jan. 11, the county reported its 37th, 38th and 39th deaths of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. It’s the first death reported since Jan. 7 and the 10th fatality reported this month.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there have been 4,451 confirmed cases and currently 613 active cases, and 48 new cases recorded as of Monday afternoon. It also shows that 19 people are hospitalized within the county, with six of those in the intensive care unit.
Confirmed cases include patients who have since recovered and those who are deceased. There’s been 27,929 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 23,444 have tested negative and 3,799 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 4,451 positive cases of Covid-19, 143 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 1,153 are in the 5-24 age group; 1,953 are in the 25-49; 845 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 356 are age 64 or older.
The newsletter also shows that San Benito County remains in the most restricted purple “widespread” risk level as of Jan. 11. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 80.3 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 15.4 percent for the week of Dec. 20-26.
These numbers are beyond the “widespread” risk level factors for each county, which is more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 residents, and a positivity rate of more than 8 percent.
The statewide data shows 74.1 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 15 percent for the week of Dec. 20-26.
At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least three weeks before moving forward from the purple “widespread” tier to the red “substantial” tier after meeting the criteria of the less restrictive level for 14 consecutive days.
The limits for the “substantial” tier are no more than 4 to 7 daily new cases per 100,000 residents, and a positivity rate between 5-8 percent.
