COVID-19: Coachella Valley sees 4% decrease in cases; Riverside County hospitalizations hit 1,078

The nine Coachella Valley cities saw a slight decrease in COVID-19 cases in the last eight days, but Riverside County data released Tuesday shows the omicron variant's spread is still far from over.

The Coachella Valley added 1,543 new COVID-19 cases between Jan. 10 and Tuesday. That is down 4% from the previous update, when there were 1,610 cases reported between Jan. 3 and 10.

Five deaths were also reported in the last eight days.

Here is a full breakdown of confirmed total cases, deaths and recoveries by city since the start of the pandemic (weekly changes shown in parentheses):

  • Cathedral City: 9,367 confirmed cases (+156), 136 deaths (+1), 8,879 recoveries (+87)

  • Coachella: 9,398 confirmed cases (+238), 111 deaths (+0), 8,932 recoveries (+67)

  • Desert Hot Springs: 5,797 confirmed cases (+115), 87 deaths (+1), 5,489 recoveries (+46)

  • Indian Wells: 328 confirmed cases (+11), 8 deaths (+0), 292 recoveries (+2)

  • Indio: 16,491 confirmed cases (+433), 253 deaths (+2), 15,476 recoveries (+188)

  • La Quinta: 5,307 confirmed cases (+196), 72 deaths (+0), 4,909 recoveries (+65)

  • Palm Desert: 6,106 confirmed cases (+223), 139 deaths (+0), 5,562 recoveries (+94)

  • Palm Springs: 5,504 confirmed cases (+129), 140 deaths (+1), 5,105 recoveries (+59)

  • Rancho Mirage: 1,687 confirmed cases (+42), 55 deaths (+0), 1,540 recoveries (+17)

There were also 234 COVID-19 cases reported in unincorporated communities for the eight days ending Tuesday, up 38% from the previous update. Two deaths were reported in Desert Palms and Garnet. Data was not available for Thermal.

The number of copies recorded at Palm Springs' wastewater treatment plant continues to be significantly high. There were 4.6 million viral copies per liter reported on Jan. 10 and 6.4 million viral copies per liter reported on Jan. 11. The delta and omicron variants continue to be detected, with a more than 98% prevalence rate of the omicron variant.

Related: COVID-19: Cases double across Riverside County, Palm Springs wastewater reveals even higher rates

More: Riverside County reports death of infant from COVID-19, becoming youngest death from virus in county

During last winter's surge, the highest number of copies detected was about 2.6 million, Donn Uyeno, the city's principal engineer, said during Thursday's City Council meeting.

Data from the Valley Sanitary District in Indio also shows significantly high rates of virus detection. There were more than 6 million viral copies per liter reported on Jan. 13.

Cases among school districts are also growing. Palm Springs Unified School District reported 740 student and 107 staff cases on Tuesday.

At the Desert Sands Unified School District, there are active cases of COVID-19 among 1,187 students and 217 staff members. An active case means that a student or staff member participating in on-campus activities or other school-related activities has tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days.

The Coachella Valley Unified School District reported active cases within the last 10 days among 206 students and 84 staff members.

Related: Palm Springs Unified changes quarantine procedures according to new state guidance

More: Student and staff absenteeism rates soar across valley as COVID-19 surges

Various COVID-19 metrics continue to rise in Riverside County as well.

COVID-19-related hospitalizations have reached 1,078 patients — an increase of 87 since Friday — including 158 in intensive care. The last time hospitalizations surpassed 1,000 was January 2021.

Riverside County reached a peak of 1,660 hospitalized patients on Jan. 11, 2021.

There were an additional 4,858 new COVID-19 cases reported since Friday.

The county's case rate is 256.0 per 100,000, and its positivity rate is 34.9%. Both numbers have grown significantly since Friday — 212.0 per 100,000 and 32.9%. While the county's case rate is below the state average — 270.6 per 100,000 — its positivity rate is higher than that state's, which was 21.1% on Tuesday.

Despite these gains, the spread of COVID-19 is likely decreasing in the county, according to predictive models from the California Department of Public Health. The COVID-19 transmission rate in Riverside County is estimated to be 0.59, meaning every infected person in the county on average is transmitting the virus to less than one person. Last week, the rate was two people.

Ten deaths were reported since Friday, bringing the total to 5,681 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

In Riverside County, 59.3% of residents ages 5 and older are fully vaccinated and another 7.2% are partially vaccinated. About 24.6% of the population aged 12 and older has received an additional/booster shot.

Federal website for at-home COVID tests launches early

If your search for at-home COVID-19 tests has been unsuccessful, the federal government's website to order free rapid tests launched Tuesday.

While COVIDTests.gov was expected to start accepting orders on Wednesday, an "Order free at-home tests" button was added Tuesday, which brings users to Usps.com/covidtests to order four at-home free tests. Orders will take around 7 to 12 days to ship.

Once someone clicks on the "Order free at-home tests" button, they will enter their contact and shipping address information on the USPS website. Then click "check out now" to place the order. No credit card information is required.

The USPS website states there is a "limit of one order per residential address."

A message was posted on the website Tuesday that noted the site is "up and running early so we can test the site before our official launch tomorrow. We have tests for every residential address in the U.S. Please check back tomorrow if you run into any unexpected issues."

Some users immediately identified at least one problem: Orders made by different people living in the same apartment building but in different units were rejected as duplicates, according to some tweets. One workaround is to put your apartment number in the street address field, Twitter users are reporting.

The tests are part of the Biden administration's purchase of 500 million tests last month to help tackle a record surge in infections.

Need a COVID-19 test? Here's where you can get one in the Coachella Valley

Related: Booked appointments, long lines for COVID-19 testing in Coachella Valley

Coachella Valley residents looking to get tested sooner should be aware that the Coachella Valley Unified School District announced its COVID-19 testing service will temporarily be available only to students and staff members starting Tuesday.

District spokeswoman Lissette Santiago said in an email that the decision was due to supply constraints. Students and staff who come in for testing will need to show a student or staff ID.

The district's testing schedule is updated daily at 8:30 a.m. and can be found at www.cvusd.us and at all school websites.

A date for when testing would reopen to the public was not provided.

USA Today contributed to this story.

Ema Sasic covers 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: Coachella Valley sees slight decrease in COVID cases in past 8 days