Riverside County will begin accepting waivers for in-person instruction Monday
UPDATE: 8/21/20
Officials confirmed Riverside County will begin accepting waivers for in-person learning starting on Monday.
Schools, both public and private, can obtain a waiver application here: https://t.co/jnRLE6uCRC To read the press release: https://t.co/jpaDuchjC6 #RivCoNOW #RUHealth pic.twitter.com/bB8BHpenRH
— Dr. Cameron Kaiser (@RivCoDoc) August 21, 2020
Hear from local school leaders about what the waivers could mean for valley students
You can read more details about the waiver and its process in the original article below.
Original Report:
Riverside County could possibly be taking the next steps towards the return of in-person instruction next week if things continue how they are going.
Riverside County is currently below the state's threshold for schools to begin applying for waivers to allow in-person instruction.
The rate, based on a daily calculation on the state's monitoring list, is 200 cases per 100,000 residents. According to County Spokesperson Brooke Federico, Riverside County is currently at 175.3 cases per 100,000 residents.
Federico tells News Channel 3 that the county will continue to monitor this trend for the next few days to take into account the recent backlog in cases caused by a glitch in the state’s CalREDIE system.
The statewide issue led to counties to report lower than expected case totals.
“Our data system has failed,” California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said, leaving up to 300,000 records backlogged, though not all of them are coronavirus cases and some may be duplicates
The issue was resolved last week and counties were caught up by the middle of the week. Over the past couple of days, Riverside County has continued to report low numbers, along with continuously decreasing hospitalizations and low death growth.
Federico says if the case rate continues to stay below 200, the county will begin accepting applications for waivers next week. She added that so far, it's been mostly private schools that have shown an interest in the waivers.
"It’s my understanding that at least a dozen private schools and at least two school districts inquired about the process We’re treating all of these as informal inquiries until an application is received," Federico said.
The California Department of Public Health and Riverside County Public Health Director Dr. Cameron Kaiser will have to approve the waivers before in-person instruction can begin.
The county must be off the watch list for 14 days before schools and school districts may reopen without a waiver
According to the county, a total of 3,581 school-age children between the ages of 5-17 have tested positive for coronavirus. There are no reported deaths of anyone between the age of 0-17
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You can also find more local coronavirus coverage at KESQ.com/Coronavirus
