Riverside County returned to the purple tier last week after it was allowed one extra week in the red tier. According to the state’s tier system, purple means the virus is widespread and that many nonessential indoor business operations are closed.
“Right now, there is no legal action anticipated,” wrote a county representative Monday in response to the newspaper’s inquiry about any legal action the county is taking against the state regarding the shutdowns.
The return to the purple tier pushes many businesses outdoors as we move into winter. Congress is still negotiating another stimulus package. It is still uncertain as to whether or not an economic relief package will pass before Election Day.
Riverside County residents and business owners expressed frustration with the board of supervisors at its Tuesday morning meeting. One asked if any of the supervisors have gone without their pay to stand in solidarity with those economically impacted by the shutdowns. The newspaper had to go to print before the conclusion of the meeting.
The county explained last week that it “will need to remain in the purple tier for at least three weeks and meet the red tier metrics for two of those weeks before returning to the red tier.”
More testing is needed to push the county back to the red tier. Even though Riverside County is testing more residents per day (200 residents per 100,000) since early September’s 139 residents per 100,000 per day, the statewide testing median is 239 per 100,000 residents per day.
“Besides the benefit to our businesses, there’s a payoff for you,” said Dr. Cameron Kaiser, Riverside County public health officer. “If you’re medically vulnerable, detecting the infection early might reduce your risk of complications, and even if you’re well, it means you can take precautions sooner to avoid spreading it to your family or workplace. If we can get less spread, fewer people will be at risk, and that’s the most important goal.”
According to the Riverside University Health System – Public Health (RUHS) website, the area of Idyllwild-Pine Cove has a total of 24 reported COVID-19 cases since the outbreak and one death reported. Twenty-two of the 24 people have recovered.
As of press time on Oct. 27, Riverside County has 66,732 confirmed COVID-19 cases. There are 1,295 deaths related to COVID-19 and 59,516 people have recovered. There are 164 individuals being hospitalized and of those 60 are in the intensive care unit (ICU). The county’s positivity rate is 5.2%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 is 9.1.
As of press time on Oct. 20, Riverside County had 64,668 confirmed COVID-19 cases. There were 1,273 deaths related to COVID-19 and 58,236 people had recovered. There were 157 individuals being hospitalized and of those 42 were in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate was 5.2%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 was 9.1.
As of press time on Oct. 13, Riverside County had 62,553 confirmed COVID-19 cases. There were 1,258 deaths related to COVID-19 and 56,659 people had recovered. There were 146 individuals being hospitalized and of those 42 were in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate was 5.0%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 was 7.6.
To date, 804,734 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Riverside County, according to RUHS. 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.
