Coronavirus Update For Riverside County: The Latest Numbers

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The number of coronavirus cases in Riverside County increased by 433, with a slight elevation in virus-related hospitalizations and deaths reported Friday.

The total number of infections recorded countywide since the public health documentation period began in early March was at 78,442 on Friday, compared to 78,009 on Thursday, according to the Riverside University Health System.

Officials said the number of deaths stemming from complications related to COVID-19 stands at 1,400, on Friday, up four from a day earlier.

The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations was at 375 on Friday, compared to 362 on Thursday, including 99 intensive care unit patients, 14 more than the day before, RUHS figures showed.

County Emergency Management Director Bruce Barton said during Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting that the rise in COVID-19 caseloads has not overwhelmed area hospitals, which continue to operate with excess bed capacity.

Barton said people with a critical medical need of any kind should not hesitate to visit medical facilities, because they "are still safe" thanks to triaging that separates potentially contagious people from those who aren't.

Department of Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari said Tuesday the county now has a state-adjusted case rate of 22.4 infections per 100,000 residents and an overall state-calculated positivity rate of 8.9 percent, up from 6.7 percent two weeks ago.

The county's testing level is at 282.1 tests per 100,000 residents.

Last month, the California Department of Public Health reclassified the county in the "purple" tier, the most restrictive under the state's Blueprint for a Safer Economy regulatory framework.

For roughly a month, the county had been in the slightly less stringent "red" tier. Some entities that had reopened were required to move operations outdoors or close again, including gyms, restaurants, movie theaters and churches.

Earlier this week, 28 counties were moved back into the purple tier amid a 50 percent statewide upswing in coronavirus cases, which the governor said was "the fastest increase in cases we have seen yet."

He went a step farther on Thursday, issuing a revised executive order mandating a nightly curfew on social gatherings, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., starting Saturday, as part of a COVID-19 mitigation. Read more here: How The Coronavirus 'Curfew' Impacts Riverside County Residents