Riverside County coronavirus ICU hospitalizations spike 50% since Friday

Riverside County heath officials Tuesday reported a more than 50 percent jump in coronavirus-related intensive care unit hospitalizations over the weekend.

The Riverside University Health System reported 60 COVID-positive ICU hospitalizations countywide, up 21 from Friday's figures. The total number of coronavirus patients being treated in county hospitals increased by three over the weekend, to 164.

"Now we are in an uptick, and that's an ebb and flow of what happens," said Jose Arballo, a spokesperson with Riverside County Public Health Department.

Arballo said the spike could be an early warning sign of what's still to come in the pandemic. "The potential is there for there to be more serious cases, more hospitalizations, potentially more deaths," he said.

Valley hospitals are trending the same, reporting higher coronavirus hospitalization numbers than a month ago. Arballo said that's directly correlated to the jump in cases happening too.

The Riverside County Board of Supervisors is pushing the state for more relaxed reopening guidelines. In a proposal from Supervisor Karen Spiegel, she said "health metrics such as hospital capacity" should be considered.

"We need to start protesting up to the governor," Spiegel said last week. "We need to do something more than sitting back here."​

But as hospitalizations start to increase again, so does concern over the colder months and incoming flu season, which could take up valuable hospital space.

"That double whammy could potentially put our health system in a pinch," Arballo said.

With multiple holidays around the corner, county officials are urging people to remain vigilant and coronavirus-safe.

"Halloween's coming up, Thanksgiving's coming up, so the concern is that people – and understandably they're frustrated and want to be together – will not really be following the guidelines that we've been putting out there," Arballo said.

County officials remain hopeful that coronavirus metrics will turn around soon – even enough for Riverside County to return back to the red tier two weeks from now.

In the meantime, they ask people to continue to get tested and make sure to take care of your flu shot.

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