The number of COVID-positive patients in Riverside County hospitals continues to decline, although 40 additional deaths linked to the coronavirus were reported.
The Riverside University Health System reported 171 hospitalizations Saturday, down from 191 on Friday. Of those patients, 36 were in intensive care, unchanged from Friday.
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 Friday, the RUHS reported 40 additional deaths connected to COVID-19, bringing the county’s virus-related death toll to 6,325 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 272 new positive COVID tests Friday. The aggregate number of COVID-19 cases recorded in the county since the pandemic began is 592,428.
The number of known active virus cases in the county was 38,084 on Friday. The active count is derived by subtracting deaths and recoveries from the current total — 592,428. Verified patient recoveries countywide are 548,019.
The agency does not provide updated COVID data on weekends.