COVID-19: Cases continue to decrease, while hospitalizations tick up; Riverside County moves to 'low' community transmission level
COVID-19 cases continued to decrease locally, while hospitalizations ticked up in the past week.
The nine Coachella Valley cities added 387 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending Wednesday. That is down 3% from the previous week.
Here is a full breakdown of confirmed total cases, deaths and recoveries by city since the start of the pandemic (with weekly changes shown in parentheses):
Cathedral City: 13,735 confirmed cases (+42); 152 deaths (+0); 13,519 recoveries (+36)
Coachella: 14,038 confirmed cases (+42); 122 deaths (+1); 13,869 recoveries (+53)
Desert Hot Springs: 8,464 confirmed cases (+32); 98 deaths (+0); 8,325 recoveries (+22)
Indian Wells: 696 confirmed cases (+4); 9 deaths (+0); 683 recoveries (+2)
Indio: 24,965 confirmed cases (+114); 285 deaths (+0); 24,557 recoveries (+94)
La Quinta: 9,204 confirmed cases (+37); 86 deaths (+0); 9,079 recoveries (+40)
Palm Desert: 10,762 confirmed cases (+49); 154 deaths (+1); 10,566 recoveries (+65)
Palm Springs: 9,065 confirmed cases (+54); 159 deaths (+0); 8,857 recoveries (+59)
Rancho Mirage: 3,172 confirmed cases (+13); 58 deaths (+0); 3,094 recoveries (+13)
There were also 38 COVID-19 cases reported in unincorporated communities in the week ending Wednesday:
Bermuda Dunes: 1,670 confirmed cases (+6); 13 deaths (+0); 1,652 recoveries (+5)
Desert Edge: 711 confirmed cases (+2); 22 deaths (+0); 685 recoveries (+1)
Desert Palms: 840 confirmed cases (+5); 35 deaths (+0); 803 recoveries (+6)
Garnet: 1,606 confirmed cases (+7); 23 deaths (+0); 1,577 recoveries (+7)
Mecca: 2,011 confirmed cases (+6); 23 deaths (+0); 1,980 recoveries (+5)
North Shore: 746 confirmed cases (+0); 1 death (+0); 745 recoveries (+1)
Oasis: 1,684 confirmed cases (+2); 9 deaths (+0); 1,665 recoveries (+5)
Sky Valley: 490 confirmed cases (+4); 7 deaths (+0); 478 recoveries (+4)
Thermal: 825 confirmed cases (+1); 10 deaths (+0); 813 recoveries (+4)
Thousand Palms: 2,029 confirmed cases (+3); 13 deaths (+0); 2,012 recoveries (+8)
Vista Santa Rosa: 632 confirmed cases (+2); 5 deaths (+0); 626 recoveries (+2)
Riverside County reported 2,485 new COVID-19 cases between Friday and Wednesday. That is a 13% decrease from the previous week's 2,869 cases.
After weeks of having a "medium" community transmission level, Riverside County has once again moved down to the "low" level. Under this designation, it's recommended that people stay up-to-date with their vaccinations and wear facial coverings on public transportation, if they have symptoms, test positive for COVID-19 or are exposed to someone with the virus.
As of Wednesday, there were 145 patients hospitalized in the county with COVID-19. That is an increase of 22 people from Friday. There were 15 people in intensive care.
An additional death was reported between Friday and Wednesday in Riverside County, bringing the total to 6,644 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In Riverside County, 59.7% of residents ages 6 months and older have completed their primary vaccine series, which includes both shots of the Pfizer or both shots of the Moderna vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. About 30% of the population ages 5 and older has been boosted.
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday gave emergency authorization to a "bivalent" vaccine that targets both the original virus and the BA.4 and BA.5 variants that now dominate the world.
An advisory committee to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to meet Thursday to discuss who should receive the boosters. The CDC director will also need to sign off before the boosters become available.
Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com or on Twitter @ema_sasic.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: COVID-19: Cases continue to decrease, while hospitalizations tick up
