San Benito County Public Health officials are reporting that the number of new Covid-19 cases have now surpassed the 2,000 mark as the numbers keep growing on a daily basis.
As of Dec. 3, San Benito County Public Health officials have reported 2,007 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the county, which is an increase of 72 cases reported since the start of this month. The local death count remains at 17, according to county officials.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there are currently 198 active cases with 39 new cases as of Dec. 3. There’s been 20,279 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 18,250 have tested negative and 1,792 patients have recovered.
County public health officials are also reporting that the number of new daily cases of Covid-19 continue to skyrocket, slowing down any progress to move into the next level of the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that San Benito County continues to be at the most restricted purple “widespread” risk level as of Dec. 3. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 31 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 7.1 percent from Nov. 19-25.
The new numbers are a big jump from the previous data that showed 23 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 6 percent from Nov. 16-22. 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 30.2 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 6.4 percent for the week ending Nov. 19-25.
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. Data is reviewed weekly and tiers are updated on Tuesdays.
The data from the community newsletter shows that of the 1,929 positive cases of Covid-19, 71 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 507 are in the 5-24 age group; 886 are in the 25-49; 377 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 165 are age 64 or older.
County public health officials released a chart on Dec. 1 that displays the demographics and characteristics of Covid-19 related deaths including age, gender, race/ethnicity and underlying conditions.
The county public health department reported that 14 of the 17 deaths, or 82.3 percent, are men. They also reported that “Hispanic/Latnix” account for 11, or 64.7 percent of the deaths in San Benito County, followed by “White” at 3 (23.53), “Asian” at 1 (5.88) and “Black” at 1 (5.88).
The age groups of 60-69 and 80-89 each accounted for five, or 29.4 percent, of the 17 deaths. Those who were 90 years old or above accounted for 3 deaths, or 17.6 percent.
Four of the age groups (30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 70-79) each accounted for one, or 5.88 percent, of the 17 deaths in the county.
They also reported that 8, or 47.1 percent of the deaths showed they had at least one underlying health condition. Three of the deaths (17.6 percent) showed they had three underlying health conditions, followed by two deaths (11.76) with four and two deaths (11.76) with five.
The remaining two deaths showed that one person (5.9) had two underlying health conditions, while the other (5.9) had none.
