COVID-19: Local cases, hospitalizations continue to tick up; fall boosters to target omicron
Local COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to tick up, showing that the latest surge in cases is far from over.
The nine Coachella Valley cities reported 620 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending Wednesday. It's a slight increase — 5% — from the week prior, when there were 588 cases reported in the week ending June 22.
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: 13,024 confirmed cases (+88); 151 deaths (+0); 12,777 recoveries (+63)
Coachella: 13,391 confirmed cases (+56); 121 deaths (+0); 13,208 recoveries (+58)
Desert Hot Springs: 8,065 confirmed cases (+36); 99 deaths (+0); 7,924 recoveries (+32)
Indian Wells: 657 confirmed cases (+4); 8 deaths (+0); 643 recoveries (+3)
Indio: 23,575 confirmed cases (+137); 282 deaths (+0); 23,141 recoveries (+99)
La Quinta: 8,565 confirmed cases (+77); 84 deaths (+0); 8,405 recoveries (+63)
Palm Desert: 10,040 confirmed cases (+92); 148 deaths (+0); 9,807 recoveries (+80)
Palm Springs: 8,454 confirmed cases (+88); 157 deaths (+0); 8,211 recoveries (+64)
Rancho Mirage: 2,924 confirmed cases (+42); 56 deaths (+0); 2,821 recoveries (+34)
There were also 70 COVID-19 cases reported in unincorporated communities for the week ending Wednesday.
Between Friday and Wednesday, Riverside County added 3,986 new COVID-19 cases. That's an increase of nearly 20% from the previous week when there were 3,330 cases reported between June 17 and 22.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Riverside County has a "medium" COVID-19 community transmission level. Under that distinction, residents are encouraged to wear masks in indoor settings, especially if they are at or around those with high-risk of illness, and stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. Other Southern California counties are under the "medium" level as well, except for San Diego County, which has a "low" community transmission level.
On Wednesday, there were 156 patients hospitalized in Riverside County, up 23 from Friday. That number includes 14 individuals in intensive care.
Six deaths were reported since Friday, bringing the total to 6,555 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.
In Riverside County, 59.2% of residents ages 5 and older have completed their primary vaccine series, which includes both shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. About 28.9% of the population ages 5 and older has been boosted.
A federal advisory panel voted 19-2 Tuesday to reformulate COVID-19 booster shots for the fall to more directly target the omicron viral variant.
Members of the Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel supported targeting omicron's BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, which now account for about half of the COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and have been increasing in recent weeks as other subvariants fade.
Committee members also largely supported the idea of aiming at both the omicron strain and the original one in a single vaccine, which the companies said they can provide.
Panel members said they had far less data about the new boosters than they wanted. But they said they were comfortable the changes would be safe and felt compelled to try to prevent as much severe disease as possible by further targeting the vaccine.
Cases are expected to surge again toward the end of this year, as they did in late 2020 and late 2021.
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: Local cases, hospitalizations continue to tick up
