Fairfield to host Tomato & Vine Festival in September A3
Armijo football squad works to “Restore the Roar” B1
FRIDAY | August 12, 2022 | $1.00
DAILYREPUBLIC.COM | Well said. Well read.
COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Slow reporting skews numbers, but Solano trend falling Todd R. Hansen
with significant underlying health issues, Dr. Bela Matyas, the county public health officer, said in a phone interview. His death was related to the Delta strain of the disease, and raises the death toll for the pandemic to 431; and to 168 since vaccines were readily available to the public starting in July 2021. Of the 168 deaths since then, 127 of the individuals were unvaccinated; 41 were vaccinated, the county reported. Of those 168 deaths, 118 were related to the Delta strain, 46 to the first omicron strain and
THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
FAIRFIELD — The best description for the Covid-19 reporting on Thursday might be “late.” Of the 1,437 new coronavirus cases reported since Aug. 4, nearly half were from weeks, even months prior to that. The actual number of cases over the past sevenday period was 725, the Solano County Public Health Division reported. The new reports take the pandemic total to 106,206. Moreover, the one new death reported was from August 2021: a man over 65, living at home, unvaccinated, and
See Trend, Page A8
Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic photos
Travis schools start fresh
Students walk toward the courtyard after the last class on first day of school at Vanden High in Fairfield, Thursday.
with social wellness a core objective Susan Hiland
SHILAND@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
Aaron Rosenblatt/Daily Republic
A customer wearing a face mask shops at the Fairfield Farmers’ Market, Thursday.
CDC eases Covid guidance Tribune Content Agency The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention streamlined its guidance Thursday for keeping Covid-19 in check, de-emphasizing social distancing, nixing screening tests for those without symptoms and not recommending people who aren’t current on vaccines quarantine for after being exposed to the virus. The CDC had previously urged those who haven’t been vaccinated or had a booster shot if eligible to “stay home and quarantine for at least five full days,”
while those current on the vaccine or who had recovered from Covid-19 in the past 90 days did not have to stay home unless they had symptoms. “We’re in a stronger place today as a nation, with more tools – like vaccination, boosters, and treatments – to protect ourselves, and our communities, from severe illness from Covid-19,” Greta Massetti, chief of the CDC’s Field Epidemiology and Prevention Branch, said in a statement accompanying the announcement. See CDC, Page A8
SUNDAY
Parade coming this weekend. Look for the insert in the Daily Republic.
Students gather in the courtyard after the last class on first day of the 2022-23 academic year at Vanden High School in Fairfield, Thursday.
Todd R. Hansen THANSEN@DAILYREPUBLIC.NET
RIO VISTA — The search continued Thursday for a missing 20-year-old Oakland man who is presumed to have drowned after jumping into the Sacramento River late Wednesday afternoon and never surfacing. The man, whose iden-
tity has not been released by the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, jumped from a dock at Sandy Beach County Park shortly after 4 p.m. The Sheriff’s Office is now calling the search a recovery operation, which was halted after sundown Wednesday and restarted Thursday morning. As of late in the afternoon, the man had
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See Travis, Page A8
Search continues for man presumed to have drowned in Sacramento River not been found, sheriff’s Sgt. Rex Hawkins said. Sandy Beach is a popular location for families and friends to spend a summer day, and that is exactly what the missing man and his family members were doing Wednesday. However, the Sacramento River can be treacherous. Solano County has
INDEX Arts B4 | Classifieds B6 | Comics A7, B5 | Crossword A6, B4 Obituary A4 | Opinion B3 | Sports B1 | TV Daily A7, B5
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FAIRFIELD — August brings with it the end of summer for many, and the beginning of the school year. Gavin Rakin, 13, of Vacaville, on Thursday was starting his second year at Golden West Middle School. “I am looking forward to meeting new people,” he said. “Last year, I wasn’t here very long, so I didn’t really meet a lot of people.” He likes math and is pretty excited to jump into algebra. Like everyone else, Rakin was a little nervous, but excited not to be in the middle of a Covid lockdown, with classes back in person. His dad, Chad Rakin, hopes his
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posted signs at the park informing visitors about river conditions and letting them know there is no lifeguard on duty at the park. The signs were first posted in 2012 following the drowning of a Contra Costa youth group leader. His was just one of several river drownings See Search, Page A8