Riverside County reported 266 newly confirmed coronavirus cases and three additional virus-related deaths Wednesday, while the number of hospitalizations fell.
The total number of COVID-19 infections recorded since the public health documentation period began in early March stands at 61,133, with the number of virus-linked deaths at 1,247, according to the Riverside University Health System.
The number of patients infected with COVID-19 being treated in county hospitals fell by seven overnight to 135, a day after county health officials warned that hospitalization rates had gone flat.
“We have stabled off in hospitalizations,” Emergency Management Director Bruce Barton told the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “Our ICU (bed usage rate) has flattened.”
Wednesday’s figures include 38 intensive care unit patients, four fewer than the day before.
Barton said the range has been roughly the same for the past few weeks. All COVID-19 hospitalization figures are at or below levels reported in April.
The number of known active cases countywide was 4,292, up 66 from Tuesday. The active count is derived by subtracting deaths and recoveries from the current total — 61,133 — according to the county Executive Office. The number of verified patient recoveries is 55,594.
Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari told the board Tuesday that the county’s testing positivity rate is 5%, down a full percentage point compared to three weeks ago.
However, the county is averaging 6.8 positive cases a day per 100,000 population, with an adjusted rate of 7.6 per 100,000 because testing volumes are below the state median for large counties, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The current numbers, and the new “equity” component factored into the CDPH’s metrics, would make tier reassignment from red to orange under the state’s monitoring system out of reach for the county, which now appears to be a moot issue.
The board voted Tuesday to take a self-administered approach to reopening economic sectors, adhering to CDPH guidelines, but no longer heeding the state’s directives on the timing for relaxing public health regulations.
The county Executive Office said the state could withhold $114 million in grants and other allocations because of the county’s newly adopted independent initiative. But the board did not feel the state would take a hard line as long as the county proceeds cautiously.