SOLANO COUNTY (KRON) — Solano County is seeing its biggest surge in coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
The California county with nearly half a million residents has conducted over 121,000 total tests. As of November 24, there are 778 active COVID-19 cases, with 9,745 cumulative cases recorded since the start of the pandemic.
Solano County, much like most of California, is in the purple tier of reopening, which is keeping people out of restaurants and other businesses.
But there’s not much else they can do to keep people from socializing inside their homes, which is a major concern for this holiday season as they see the increasing positivity rate.
The 7-day average of positive test results out of all tests taken is now at 12.2%.
To compare, California’s standard for its reopening says any county with more than an 8% positivity rate has a widespread risk for COVID-19 transmission.
The numbers are concerning to health experts as people face COVID-19 fatigue and opt to ignore safety guidelines during the Thanksgiving week to meet with family and friends.
Solano County Health Officer Dr. Bela Matyas says what makes this especially different is that this holiday is a multi-generational celebration.
“With Thanksgiving, with the winter holidays, we’re talking about getting together with elderly people in our families as well, and they are at far greater risk of a bad outcome,” said Matyas.
He says people who will gather for Thanksgiving can at the very least keep their distance from others, put the mask back on when not eating and avoid sharing food or utensils.