The number of COVID-positive patients in Riverside County hospitals declined again Monday.
The county reported 243 hospitalizations Monday, down from the state’s tally of 258 on Sunday. Of those patients, 43 were in intensive care, down from 49 on Sunday.
The county’s COVID hospitalizations had climbed as high as 1,109 in mid-January during a surge in cases driven by the Omicron variant, but have been steadily declining since then.
On Monday, the Riverside University Health System reported 29 additional deaths connected to COVID-19, bringing the county’s virus-related death toll to 6,223 since the pandemic began.
Fatalities are considered trailing indicators because of delays processing death certificates, meaning some deaths may have actually occurred weeks ago, according to health officials.
The RUHS also reported 977 new positive COVID tests Monday. The aggregate number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the county since the pandemic began in March 2020 is 591,176.
The number of known active virus cases in the county was 44,332 Monday. The active count is derived by subtracting deaths and recoveries from the current total — 591,176. Verified patient recoveries countywide are 540,621.
The RUHS does not report COVID data on weekends.
Additionally on Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that California will lift its requirement that students and staff wear masks indoors at schools on March 12. The state will no longer mandate indoor mask-wearing on school campuses, however, individual school districts or counties will have the option of maintaining local requirements if they deem them necessary.
The announcement comes following Friday’s change in guidance by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which adopted new standards that rely largely on COVID hospital numbers to govern whether masks should be worn.