San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases continue to grow on a daily basis, including a new death in their latest newsletter.
On Jan. 15, the county reported its 42nd death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. This is the sixth death reported this week and the 13th fatality this month.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there have been 4,778 confirmed cases and currently 720 active cases, and 80 new cases recorded as of Friday 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 28,795 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 23,992 have tested negative and 4,015 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 4,778 positive cases of Covid-19, 150 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 1,238 are in the 5-24 age group; 2,105 are in the 25-49; 908 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 376 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. 15. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 95.9 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 16.3 percent for the week of Dec. 27, 2020-Jan. 2.
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 91.7 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 17.6 percent for the week of Dec. 27, 2020-Jan. 2.
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.
