San Benito County Public Health officials are reporting the number of new Covid-19 cases are still on the rise in the county, including two more deaths in their latest newsletter.
As of Dec. 14, the county reported its 20th and 21st death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. It’s the first death reported since Dec. 7 and fifth fatality reported this month.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there are 2,477 confirmed cases and currently 299 active cases, including 30 new cases as of Monday, Dec. 14. It also shows that 11 people are hospitalized within the county, with two of those in the intensive care unit.
Confirmed cases include patients who have since recovered and those who are deceased. There’s been 22,019 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 19,507 have tested negative and 2,112 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 2,477 positive cases of Covid-19, 79 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 633 are in the 5-24 age group; 1,090 are in the 25-49; 476 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 198 are age 64 or older.
The data from the community newsletter shows that San Benito County continues to be at the most restricted purple “widespread” risk level as of Dec. 14. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 28.6 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 8.4 percent from Nov. 22-28.
The “widespread” risk level factors for each county is more than seven daily new cases per 100,000 residents, and a positivity rate of more than 8 percent.
The statewide data shows 34 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 8.4 percent from 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 5-8 percent.
