Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday “On June 15, California will fully open its economy if two criteria are met:
• If vaccine supply is sufficient for Californians 16 years and older who wish to be inoculated; and
• If hospitalization rates are stable and low.”
The entire state will move into the new phase and the state will revisit the June 15 date, if needed. Riverside County entered the orange tier Tuesday.
The New York Times reported April 1, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday walked back controversial comments made by its director, Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, suggesting that people who are vaccinated against the coronavirus never become infected or transmit the virus to others.
“The assertion called into question the precautions that the agency had urged vaccinated people to take just last month, like wearing masks and gathering only under limited circumstances with unvaccinated people.
“’Dr. Walensky spoke broadly during this interview,’ an agency spokesman told The Times. ‘It’s possible that some people who are fully vaccinated could get COVID-19. The evidence isn’t clear whether they can spread the virus to others. We are continuing to evaluate the evidence.’
“The agency was responding in part to criticism from scientists who noted that current research was far from sufficient to claim that vaccinated people cannot spread the virus.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines vaccine as “A product that stimulates a person’s immune system to produce immunity to a specific disease, protecting the person from that disease. Vaccines are usually administered through needle injections, but can also be administered by mouth or sprayed into the nose.”
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. Residents can sign up to get the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot at Idyllwild School from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, April 17 for phase 1A, 1B, individuals between the ages of 18 and 64 with underlying medical conditions and individuals 50 and over. To register visit, https://www.caprepmod.org/reg/7962119870.
For rental assistance, visit https://www.unitedlift.org/. Supervisor Chuck Washington’s office let residents know “the 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.”
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.
The Hemet Unified School District (HUSD) Board approved “the instructional model and timeline to return to hybrid in-person instruction.” However, students may elect to stay in the full online model.
Students in grades preschool to second grade returned to on-site instruction March 29. Grades three through five will return April 12. Middle school students in sixth grade will return April 12 and grades seven and eight will return April 19. High school students in ninth grade will return April 12 and grades 10 to 12 will return April 19. The district is on spring break the week of April 5.
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.
According to the Riverside University Health System – Public Health (RUHS) website, the area of Idyllwild-Pine Cove has a total of 114 reported COVID-19 cases since the outbreak and two deaths reported. One hundred and nine of the 114 people have recovered.
As of press time on April 6, Riverside County has 295,631 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 4,417 deaths related to COVID-19 and 288,924 people have recovered. One hundred and two individuals are being hospitalized, and of those, 21 are in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate is 2.0%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 is 3.5. The county is reporting that 18.1% of its population has received the full dose of the COVID-19 shot.
As of press time on March 30, Riverside County had 294,063 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 4,273 deaths related to COVID-19 and 286,949 people had recovered. One hundred and twenty individuals were being hospitalized, and of those, 31 were in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate was 2.7%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 was 4.8. The county was reporting that 16.2% of its population had received the full dose of the COVID-19 shot.
As of press time on March 23, Riverside County had 293,149 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 4,141 deaths related to COVID-19 and 285,805 people had recovered. One hundred and forty-five individuals were being hospitalized, and of those, 31 were in the ICU. The county’s positivity rate was 3.3%. The current adjusted case rate per 100,000 was 6.1. The county was reporting that 10.7% of its population had received the full dose of the COVID-19 shot.
To date, 2,758,236 total tests have been given for COVID-19 in Riverside County, according to RUHS. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Riverside County has an estimated population of 2.47 million.
