San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases are starting to decrease but their latest newsletter still included three new deaths.
On Jan. 25, the county reported its 49th, 50th and 51st death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. These are the first deaths reported since Jan. 22 and the 22nd fatality this month.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there have been 5,172 confirmed cases and currently 322 active cases, and 16 new cases recorded as of Monday afternoon. It also shows that 11 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 30,279 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 25,080 have tested negative and 4,799 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 5,172 positive cases of Covid-19, 162 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 1,345 are in the 5-24 age group; 2,266 are in the 25-49; 986 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 412 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. 25. 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.
