Riverside County Remains In Orange Tier As LA County Goes Yellow

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The rates of both new coronavirus cases and positive test results dropped in Riverside County, but not enough to see loosened restrictions for at least another two weeks, according to state data released Tuesday.

The coronavirus positivity rate is 1.9 percent, compared to 2.1 percent last week, according to the California Department of Public Health, which reported on Tuesday the county's state-adjusted case rate was 3.4 per 100,000 residents. Last week, it was 3.9 per 100,000.

More county businesses opened three weeks ago amid lighter restrictions due to the county entering the orange tier of the state's four-tier Blueprint for a Safer Economy. The county had been in the red tier since March 16, after five months in the most restrictive purple tier.

The next step is reaching the yellow tier — the designation with the least restrictions — which requires both a positivity rate less than 2 percent and a new-case rate of fewer than 2 per 100,000 residents. Both are based on rolling seven-day averages and must be sustained for two consecutive weeks.

Entering the yellow tier would allow higher attendance limits at most businesses. In some instances, the designation would double the attendance allowed under the orange tier.

Los Angeles County entered the yellow tier on Tuesday. It is the only county in Southern California to do so.

Meanwhile, Riverside County health officials reported 205 newly confirmed cases on Tuesday, along with a drop in hospitalizations and no new deaths.

According to the Riverside University Health System, the total number of COVID cases recorded since the pandemic began in March 2020 is 298,777. There have been 4,574 confirmed COVID-related deaths in that time, the same number reported last Friday.

As of Tuesday, there were 68 people countywide hospitalized with coronavirus, 12 fewer than Monday. That figure includes 17 patients in intensive care unit beds, an increase of one from the previous day.

Since December, the county has administered more than 1.6 million doses of the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, according to RUHS. The portal to make an appointment for a vaccine at county-run and other sites can be accessed via www.rivcoph.org/COVID-19-Vaccine.Anyone who needs assistance may also call the county's 211 help line.

Californians who are fully vaccinated can officially walk among others without their masks — except at a crowded event, according to California's new face mask guidance released this week. Read the state guidance here.