Riverside County health officials are reporting 1,291 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases and 36 additional deaths Tuesday, bringing the countywide totals to 151,713 cases and 1,789 deaths.
The number of new cases in the Coachella Valley and deaths are unknown for Tuesday, December 22.
Here are the numbers for the Coachella Valley city-by-city:
Desert Hot Springs: 2,197 (+95) cases, 32 deaths
Cathedral City: 3,856 (+200) cases, 47 (+2) deaths
Palm Springs: 2,026 (+106) cases, 68 deaths
Rancho Mirage: 512 (+25) cases, 25 deaths
Palm Desert: 2,056(+85) cases, 67 deaths
Indian Wells: 118 (+7) cases, 5 deaths
La Quinta: 1,679 (+87) cases, 23 deaths
Indio: 6,860 (+279) cases, 105 (+1) deaths
Coachella: 4,755 (+205) cases, 39 deaths
Thousand Palms: 530 (+41) cases, 2 deaths
Bermuda Dunes: 315 (+26) cases, 4 deaths
Thermal: 300 (+12) cases, 4 deaths
Mecca: 713 (+16) cases, 12 (-1) deaths
North Shore: 247 (+6) cases, 2 (+1) death
Oasis: 546 (+16) cases, 6 deaths
Sky Valley: 91 (+8) cases, 2 deaths
Cabazon: 138 (+9) cases, 1 death
Anza: 54 (+3) cases, no deaths
At this time age group, 18 – 39 continues to have the highest number of confirmed cases in the county with 61,520 cases.
According to the Riverside University Health System, 1,278 patients infected with coronavirus were hospitalized countywide as of Tuesday, up from 1,239 on Monday. That number includes 250 patients in intensive care units.
The 11-county Southern California region’s available ICU capacity is at 0.0% Monday; zero percent capacity means the county’s hospitals are now in their surge plans; it does not mean there are no ICU beds available.
The 36 newly reported fatalities bring the county’s coronavirus death toll to 1,789.
The number of documented patient recoveries stands at 74,066.
Riverside County’s overall state-calculated positivity rate is 21.3%.
The doubling time — or the number of days in which documented virus cases increase 100% — is 39 days. A doubling rate of seven days is reason for alarm, while expanding doubling times point to moderation, or gradual success in virus containment, according to health officials.
Information on tier requirements can be found at https://covid19.ca.gov/safer-economy.
Residents of all ages are encouraged to get tested, with or without symptoms, to identify where the disease is currently present in the community and where it is not. Testing continues to be an integral focus as more residents visit more businesses. Visit www.rivcoph.org/coronavirus/testing for more information on testing locations and how to make an appointment.
Click here for a map of Riverside County cases.
Article updated: 12/22/2020
Information from Riverside County Public Health.
NBC PALM SPRINGS STORY:
The Riverside County Board of Supervisors announced a surprising jump in Covid-19 cases today, reporting 10,949 new cases and 25 new deaths. County officials say this big increase is due to a backlog in cases, but how far does this backlog stretch?
Officials say this backlog dates back to before thanksgiving but the large number of deaths reported may later change. Riverside County officials say the increase in cases is due to an increase in testing and not having up to date numbers at hand.
“Over the last few weeks, I think we talked about it, we had a very large increase in the number of people getting tested. so as the weeks were going on, the backlog kept getting bigger and bigger,” said Jose Arballo, Senior Public Information Specialist with Riverside County.
The county does have a team that processes cases while putting them into the system, but they are only able to process a small amount due to limited staff.
“With the state’s help we were able to dive into that backlog over the last few days and now come forward with this number,” explained Arballo.
Tuesday’s numbers don’t include data from the Thanksgiving holiday, which health experts believe could bring another surge in virus cases.
“This week will be the days when we start seeing the effects of what happened on thanksgiving. so you can expect either a bump or a surge over the next week or so depending on how well the community did in doing those safety guidelines that we talk about all the time,” said Arballo.
And The Riverside County Board of Supervisors warns next month could be even worse.
“We know this is coming, it’s going to be worse next month than it is now, and we can either sit back and say well the state wouldn’t give us that or we can grab it by the horns and do this,” said Jeff Hewitt, Riverside County Board of Supervisors, District 5.
Officials tell NBC Palm Springs that the number of positive cases reported Tuesday is expected to decrease as more data becomes available.