San Benito County Public Health officials are reporting a new single-day case record of Covid-19 infections, surpassing the century mark for the first time since the pandemic began in March.
As of Dec. 16, the county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there are currently 445 active cases with a record-breaking 104 new cases reported on Wednesday. There are 12 people hospitalized in the county, which includes two in the intensive care unit.
County public health officials have now reported 2,642 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the county. The local death count remains at 22, according to county officials.
There’s been 22,439 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 19,762 have tested negative and 2,175 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 2,642 positive cases of Covid-19, 87 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 678 are in the 5-24 age group; 1,168 are in the 25-49 category; 494 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 214 are age 64 or older.
The newsletter also shows that San Benito County continues to be at the most restricted purple “widespread” risk level as of Dec. 16. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 54.7 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 13.9 percent from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5.
The “widespread” risk level factors is more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 residents, and a positivity rate of more than 8 percent.
The statewide data shows 63.9 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 11.3 percent from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5.
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 to 8 percent.
