COVID-19: Riverside County hospitalizations surpass 100 once again

Ema Sasic, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·2 min read

Riverside County hospitalizations have returned to the triple-digits once again for the first time since mid-March.

There were 104 patients reported on Wednesday, up 13 from Friday. That number also includes eight individuals in intensive care.

As patient numbers have been going up steadily in recent weeks, cases counts are continuing their climb as well.

The nine Coachella Valley cities reported 717 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending Wednesday. When comparing counts to one month ago, Wednesday's total represents a 119% increase from the 328 cases reported between April 26 and May 3.

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: 12,678 confirmed cases (+95); 151 deaths (+0); 12,434 recoveries (+87)

  • Coachella: 13,135 confirmed cases (+73); 121 deaths (+0); 12,944 recoveries (+87)

  • Desert Hot Springs: 7,912 confirmed cases (+55); 99 deaths (+0); 7,761 recoveries (+40)

  • Indian Wells: 642 confirmed cases (+12); 8 deaths (+0); 621 recoveries (+9)

  • Indio: 23,022 confirmed cases (+173); 281 deaths (+0); 22,563 recoveries (+159)

  • La Quinta: 8,277 confirmed cases (+103); 83 deaths (+0); 8,087 recoveries (+88)

  • Palm Desert: 9,663 confirmed cases (+106); 148 deaths (+0); 9,401 recoveries (+112)

  • Palm Springs: 8,169 confirmed cases (+62); 157 deaths (+0); 7,943 recoveries (+75)

  • Rancho Mirage: 2,769 confirmed cases (+38); 56 deaths (+0); 2,675 recoveries (+25)

There were also 87 COVID-19 cases reported in unincorporated communities for the week ending Wednesday.

Riverside County added 3,098 new COVID-19 cases since Friday. That is a 26% increase compared to the previous week, when there were 2,452 cases reported between May 20 and 25.

Though cases are continuing to climb in Riverside County, the CDC says the region has a low community transmission level. People "may choose to mask at any time," but those with symptoms, a positive test or those who have been exposed to COVID-19 should wear a mask, according to the CDC.

Other Southern California counties, such as San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange and Imperial, have a medium community transmission level. Residents of those counties are encouraged to wear masks, especially if they are at high-risk of illness.

One silver lining is no new deaths were reported since Friday. There have been 6,538 deaths in Riverside County since the beginning of the pandemic.

In Riverside County, 58.9% 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 28.3% of the population ages 5 and older has been boosted.

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: COVID-19: Riverside County hospitalizations surpass 100 again