San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases have now broken the 5,000 mark, including three new deaths in their latest newsletter.
On Jan. 20, the county reported its 44th, 45th and 46th death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. These are the first deaths reported since Jan. 18 and the 17th fatality this month.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there have been 5,003 confirmed cases and currently 549 active cases, and 44 new cases recorded as of Wednesday afternoon. It also shows that 13 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 29,473 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 24,462 have tested negative and 4,408 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 5,003 positive cases of Covid-19, 157 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 1,299 are in the 5-24 age group; 2,193 are in the 25-49; 957 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 396 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. 20. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 126.1 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 17.4 percent for the week of Jan. 3-9.
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 105.4 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 15.2 percent for the week of Jan. 3-9.
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.
