San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases continue to decrease but a new death was reported in their latest newsletter.
On Feb. 4, the county reported its 55th death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. This is the first death reported since Feb. 1.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there have been 5,405 confirmed cases and currently 211 active cases, and 16 new cases recorded as of Thursday afternoon. It also shows that 13 people are hospitalized within the county, with three of those in the intensive care unit.
Confirmed cases include patients who have since recovered and those who are deceased. There’s been 31,344 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 25,912 have tested negative and 5,139 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 5,405 positive cases of Covid-19, 169 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 1,417 are in the 5-24 age group; 2,360 are in the 25-49; 1,025 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 432 are age 64 or older.
The newsletter also shows that San Benito County remains in the most restricted purple “widespread” risk level as of Feb. 4. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 53.1 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 10.4 percent for the week of Jan. 17-23.
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 47.7 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 10 percent for the week of Jan. 17-23.
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.
