“A 4-year-old child from Western Riverside County recently died after contracting COVID-19, becoming the youngest person in the county to die from the virus since the pandemic started,” according to Riverside University Health System.
“The death took place during the first week of August, but health officials reported the cause of death [last] week after receiving confirmation from the coroner’s office. The name of the child and city of residence are not being released.
“’Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the family, friends and others who are impacted by the death of this child,’ said Dr. Geoffrey Leung, public health officer for Riverside County. ‘This tragedy reminds us that this virus does not discriminate between the young and old. The death of this child strengthens our commitment to halt this pandemic before the loss of another young life.’
“According to health officials, there have been 4,727 COVID-19-related deaths in Riverside County since the start of the pandemic. The vast majority of the deaths have involved those over 30 years of age, but there have been a handful of teens and young adults who have died from the virus –—some with underlying health issues.
“The 4-year-old had no underlying health issues, officials said.”
As of Friday, Aug. 27, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports: The current seven-day moving average of daily new U.S. COVID cases has increased 2.8% compared with last week, and it is 107.2% higher compared to the peak observed 13 months ago on July 20, 2020. It is 1,117.9% higher than the lowest value observed just two months ago in June of this year.
Full U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval has now been granted to the Pfizer vaccine for use in people aged 16 and older. The vaccine previously had been available for use against COVID on an Emergency Use Authorization basis, along with the vaccines of Moderna and Johnson and Johnson. The CDC reports that 52% of the U.S. population are now fully vaccinated.
Further CDC resources are available at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/.
As of Sunday, Aug. 29, California reported 4,198,412 total confirmed cases of COVID, with 65,243 resulting deaths. That’s 100,000 more cases than were reported just last week.
As of the same date, Riverside County reported a total of 326,987 confirmed COVID cases with 4,623 deaths. The current rolling seven-day averages are about 765 new cases per day with 0 new deaths per day. The county now reports 685 hospitalized COVID patients, with 133 of them being in ICU. Forty-eight ICU beds are available in Riverside County. According to CDC figures, 56.2% of the Riverside County population is now fully vaccinated.
Riverside County Public Health reports 127 total cases of COVID in the Idyllwild-Pine Cove community, with 123 recovered and two deaths, leaving two cases still active.