The Riverside County Board of Supervisors were voting Tuesday on whether or not to approve Supervisor Jeff Hewitt’s proposal to reopen the county completely in three weeks. The newspaper had to go to press prior to the vote. However, the county moved from purple to red Tuesday in the state’s tier system.
As of press time, there are still a total of 22 reported COVID-19 cases since the outbreak and one death reported for the area of Idyllwild-Pine Cove, according to the Riverside University Health System – Public Health (RUHS) website.
Twenty-one of the 22 people have recovered.
As of press time on Sept. 22, Riverside County has 57,482 confirmed COVID-19 cases. There are 1,172 deaths related to COVID-19 and 52,776 people have recovered. There are 146 individuals being hospitalized and of those 42 are in the intensive care unit (ICU).
As of press time on Sept. 15, Riverside County had 55,986 confirmed COVID-19 cases. There were 1,125 deaths related to COVID-19 and 51,032 people had recovered. There were 155 individuals being hospitalized and of those 49 were in the ICU.
As of press time on Sept. 9, Riverside County had 54,735 confirmed COVID-19 cases. There were 1,085 deaths related to COVID-19 and 48,761 people had recovered. There were 185 individuals being hospitalized and of those 62 were in the ICU.
To date, 616,470 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Riverside County, according to RUHS. The age range with the most confirmed cases is 18- to 39-year-olds. The two demographics with the highest number of cases are Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander and Hispanic/Latino.
The county is urging residents and visitors to cover their face, keep 6 feet of distance and wash their hands.
Riverside County announced a COVID-19 business grant program. The $10,000-grant for small businesses (less than 50 employees) is first-come first-served basis. Applications are available at www.RivCoBizHelp.org and will be accepted beginning Sept. 16 through 5 p.m. on Oct. 30. Funds may be used for payroll/employee retention, working capital, purchase of personal protective equipment, rent or mortgage payments and paying vendor invoices.
Previously, the Riverside County board of supervisors unanimously approved using $4 million in CARES Act funding for the Pathways to Employment program which will recruit 500 unemployed adults impacted by the pandemic to receive work training and mentoring.
Participants will receive a stipend of $20 per hour, training and mentoring from nonprofit and government partners and supportive services including transportation, clothing, counseling and technological assistance.
For more information, please call the Housing, Homelessness Prevention and Workforce Solutions department at 951-955-1161.