As of Sept. 10, the CDC reports: The current seven-day moving average of daily new U.S. COVID cases has increased 6.1% compared with last week.
The CDC reports the COVID-19 virus is constantly mutating, producing new variants. The Delta variant is the most prominent strain in the U.S., making up more than 99% of current cases. The CDC continues to advise that getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself, your family and your community — and that it’s also the best way to prevent new variants from emerging.
From the CDC website: “A recent CDC study found that people who were not fully vaccinated had about 10 times the risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 compared with people who were fully vaccinated. CDC recommends that everyone in the United States 12 years and older get vaccinated as soon as possible. To find a vaccine provider near you, visit Vaccines.gov or your state or local public health department website.”
The CDC urges: “To maximize protection from the Delta variant and prevent possibly spreading it to others, get vaccinated as soon as you can and wear a mask indoors in public if you are in an area of substantial or high transmission.”
According to a recent CDC study, the Delta variant can spread rapidly in schools when unvaccinated teachers and staff have close, indoor contact with unvaccinated children. Children are less affected by COVID-19 than adults, but they can still get sick from it and can spread it to others. Another recent CDC study shows that COVID-19 hospitalizations among children and adolescents is on the increase with the Delta variant.
Further CDC resources are available at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/.
Hemet Unified School District’s “Dashboard” reports 13 recently (last two weeks) confirmed cases of COVID at Idyllwild School — nine students (three times as many as last week) and four staff members (last week it was zero), which is 4.2% of its combined student/staff population — while at Hemet High, 33 students and four staff members are reported as confirmed cases, which is 1.4% of its student/staff population.
Hamilton High reports 16 students and no staff members as confirmed COVID cases, or 3.5% of its student/staff population. However, the HUSD Dashboard also states: “Positive cases will appear on the Dashboard for 14 days from the date they are reported and then will be removed after the 14th day.” So, HUSD’s Dashboard does not report cumulative confirmed cases throughout the district, only those cases confirmed during the previous two weeks.
As of Sept. 20, California reported 4,422,085 total confirmed COVID cases (61,130 more than last week), with 67,612 resulting deaths (896 more than last week).
As of Sept. 13, Riverside County reported a total of 341,566 confirmed COVID cases (4,234 more than last week) with 4,804 deaths (73 more than last week). The county now reports 576 hospitalized COVID patients (124 more than last week), with 130 of them being in ICU (two more than last week). There are still 61 ICU beds available in Riverside County. According to CDC figures, 54.8% of the Riverside County population 12 years and over is now fully vaccinated.
Riverside County Public Health reports 155 total cases of COVID in the Idyllwild-Pine Cove community (15 more than last week), with 142 recovered and two deaths, leaving 11 cases still active (three more than last week).
