Riverside County entered the red tier Tuesday. For more information on state guidance, visit https://covid19.ca.gov/industry-guidance/.
Outdoor operation for breweries, wineries and distilleries in counties in the red and purple tiers that do not serve meals can resume.

The Hemet Unified School District Board approved “the instructional model and timeline to return to hybrid in-person instruction” at its meeting last Tuesday evening. 
The timeline is as follows: “Students in grades preschool to second grade will return March 29, 2021 and grades three through five will return April 12, 2021. Middle School students in sixth grade will return April 12, 2021 and grades seven and eight will return April 19, 2021. High School students in ninth grade will return April 12, 2021 and grades 10 to 12 will return April 19, 2021.” A story with more information is below. 
The county also announced that moderate- and high-contact sports, including soccer, football, baseball, cheer and water polo, may now resume. Below is the state’s guidance for outdoor entertainment and sports spectators beginning April 1. 

• Purple tier: outdoor sports and other live events with an audience of 100 people or fewer. Reservations required and visitors allowed from within 120 miles. Concession and concourse sales not allowed within the purple tier.
• Red tier: Spectators allowed up to 20% capacity. In-seat concession sales allowed. Concourse sales not allowed. Visitors allowed from within California.
• Orange tier: Spectator capacity increases to 33%. Visitors allowed from within California.
• Yellow tier: Spectator capacity increases to 67%. Visitors allowed from within California.
Visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) website at https://www.osha.gov/laws-regs, to become familiar with the laws and regulations pertaining to personal protective equipment, including what is mandatory with regards to respirators, etc.
For information on SBA’s assistance to small businesses, visit sba.gov/ppp or treasury.gov/cares. To contact the county of Riverside’s Business and Community Services department, call 951-955-0493 or send an email to [email protected] for local assistance.
For rental assistance, visit https://www.unitedlift.org/. Supervisor Chuck Washington’s office let residents know the United Lift program “will provide one-time rental assistance support to cover up to 12 months of unpaid rent during the period between March 13, 2020 until the time of application, plus an additional three months of future rent. Eligibility is limited to renters in Riverside County with a current lease agreement who are earning 80% or below of the area’s median income and can document a loss of income due to COVID-19 economic impacts that leave them unable to make their rent. Assistance is provided without regard to immigration status.”
Congress passed the $1.9-trillion relief bill last week. Some residents have already started receiving their stimulus money.
For more information on the COVID-19 shot, visit www.rivcoph.org/COVID-19-Vaccine or call 2-1-1. Seniors can call the Riverside County Office on Aging at 800-510-2020.
According to the Riverside University Health System – Public Health (RUHS) website, the area of Idyllwild-Pine Cove has a total of 113 reported COVID-19 cases since the outbreak and two deaths reported. One hundred and seven of the 113 people have recovered. The numbers were adjusted after going to press last week.
As of press time on March 16, Riverside County has 292,403 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 4,011 deaths related to COVID-19 and 284,290 people have recovered. One hundred and eighty-eight individuals are being hospitalized, and of those, 42 are in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate is 3.3%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 is 6.1. The county is reporting that 9% of its population has received both doses of the COVID-19 shot.
As of press time on March 9, Riverside County had 291,040 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 3,912 deaths related to COVID-19 and 280,923 people had recovered. Two hundred and fifty-one individuals were being hospitalized, and of those, 64 were in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate was 5.8%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 was 11.3.
As of press time on March 2, Riverside County had 289,773 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 3,792 deaths related to COVID-19 and 274,956 people had recovered. Three hundred and seven individuals were being hospitalized, and of those, 83 were in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate was 7.6%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 was 16.6.
To date, 2,603,505 total tests have been given for COVID-19 in Riverside County, according to RUHS.