San Benito County Public Health officials report the number of new Covid-19 cases continue to decline but their latest newsletter reported two deaths.
On Feb. 1, the county reported its 53rd and 54th death of the novel coronavirus in San Benito County. This is the first death reported since Jan. 27.
The county’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there have been 5,351 confirmed cases and currently 213 active cases, and 23 new cases recorded as of Monday afternoon. It also shows that 10 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 31,039 tested for the novel coronavirus locally. Of these, 25,661 have tested negative and 5,084 patients have recovered.
The data from the Public Health Services’ latest community newsletter shows that of the 5,351 positive cases of Covid-19, 167 patients are in the 0-4 age group; 1,403 are in the 5-24 age group; 2,335 are in the 25-49; 1,018 patients are in the 50-64 age group; and 426 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. 25. The county, according to state data, had a case rate of 92.2 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 15.7 percent for the week of Jan. 10-16.
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 71.6 daily new cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 12.4 percent for the week of Jan. 10-16.
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.
