Coronavirus Uptick, Obesity, Economic Recovery: Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — As the county plans an Economic Recovery Task Force to evaluate short-term and temporary measures to reopen local businesses, new coronavirus cases and deaths continue mounting across the region.

Also, recent studies are pointing to obesity as perhaps the biggest risk factor — outside of old age — for becoming very sick due to COVID-19.

As of Monday afternoon, the number of COVID-19 cases in Riverside County stands at 2,847 and deaths rose to 85. People who've recovered from the virus reached 700, but 236 patients are hospitalized with the illness — 76 of them in ICU. The county has conducted 30,693 COVID-19 tests.

See the number of cases and deaths, by city, here.

Although the number of coronavirus cases is not rising as fast as previous models indicated, the county's public health officer, Dr. Cameron Kaiser, said Friday it's still too soon to say when restrictions — closures, face covering mandate, ban on gatherings — can begin being relaxed.

Testing has now expanded to all residents — including people who show no symptoms. Kaiser said increased data gleaned from the expanded testing will help local health experts better gauge the local crisis. Free county testing is taking place by appointment only in Indio, Lake Elsinore, Riverside, Perris, and, starting Wednesday, in Blythe. Call for an appointment: 800-945-6171.

Other than a total count, the county has not released any data about hospitalized patients, and very little has been released on people who've died from COVID-19 complications. But some researchers — outside of the region — have published findings about underlying health conditions in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Although the research is still very limited, obesity stands out as an extremely high-risk factor for serious illness in younger patients who contract the virus.

One of the largest U.S. studies to identify obesity as a prominent risk factor was culled from more than 4,000 COVID-19 patients who sought care at NYU Langone Health between March 1 and April 2.

“Obesity is more important for hospitalization than whether you have high blood pressure or diabetes, though these often go together, and it’s more important than coronary disease or cancer or kidney disease, or even pulmonary disease,” Dr. Leora Horwitz, the paper’s senior author and director of the Center for Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Science at NYU Langone, told The New York Times.

Horwitz's work is preliminary and is not peer reviewed.

Another NYU Langone study dated April 9 focused on patients under the age of 60. It found that those patients with obesity were twice as likely to be hospitalized and were at even higher risk of requiring critical care.

An April 9 peer-reviewed study out of France found evidence that there is "a high frequency of obesity" among patients admitted into intensive care for COVID-19.

"Disease severity increased with BMI," according to the French study, which defined obesity as a body mass index (BMI) of greater than 30 and severe obesity as a BMI of greater than 35.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has also been warning that severe obesity, defined as a BMI of 40 or above by the agency, puts people at higher risk of COVID-19 complications.

"Severe obesity increases the risk of a serious breathing problem called acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), which is a major complication of COVID-19 and can cause difficulties with a doctor’s ability to provide respiratory support for seriously ill patients," according to the CDC. "People living with severe obesity can have multiple serious chronic diseases and underlying health conditions that can increase the risk of severe illness from COVID-19."

To date, Riverside County officials have warned that elderly people and people with "preexisting conditions" are more susceptible to serious illness and/or dying due to the virus, but there has been no information released locally that might offer more insight on non-geriatric patients who are getting hit hard — or dying — due to COVID-19 complications.

RELATED: Restrictions Lifted On Some Healthy Outdoor Activities: RivCo

While community health amid the pandemic is the number-one concern among the county's medical professionals, local leaders are also watching the economy's health.

The Board of Supervisors Tuesday will consider whether to formally put together a task force comprised of Riverside County agencies and private sector entities that would focus on identifying policies and measures to lift the region out of the fiscal doldrums.

"A task force provides the opportunity for staff and stakeholders to work together to draw on resources and expertise in aggregating information from the health, social and economic sectors," according to the proposal submitted by board Chair Manuel Perez and Supervisor Karen Spiegel.

The task force will provide recommendations for "a slow and cautious re-opening of allowed activity through best practices for all business industries," according to county documents.

The shape and structure of the proposed task force is expected to be ironed out during a board discussion. Perez and Spiegel are seeking to establish an 18-month timeframe for the group's mission to be fulfilled.

—City News Service contributed to this report.

Don't miss updates about the coronavirus in California as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.

This article originally appeared on the Murrieta Patch