San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases continue to decline but two new deaths were reported in their latest newsletter.
On March 1, the county reported its 60th and 61st death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. This is the first death reported since Feb. 24.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there have been 5,678 confirmed cases and currently 50 active cases, and no new cases recorded as of Monday afternoon. It also shows that two people are hospitalized within the county, with one of those in the intensive care unit.
Confirmed cases include patients who have since recovered and those who are deceased. There have been at least 32,979 Covid-19 tests conducted in San Benito County; of these, 27,273 have tested negative and 5,567 have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 5,569 positive cases of Covid-19, 176 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 1,500 are in the 5-24 age group; 2,468 are in the 25-49; 1,073 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 460 are age 64 or older.
The newsletter also shows that San Benito County remains in the most restricted purple “widespread” risk level as of March 1. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 17.2 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 5.4 percent for the week of Feb. 7-13.
These numbers are slightly above 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 15.2 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 4.8 percent for the week of Feb. 7-13.
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.
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.
