Coronavirus: Total confirmed cases in Riverside County now 2,638
There have now been 2,638 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Riverside County, health officials confirmed to News Channel 3 on Sunday afternoon.
That total includes 75 deaths and 642 recoveries countywide. There have been 32,779 people tested.
Seventy-one people are in the ICU with COVID-19. There are 223 people currently hospitalized for coronavirus in Riverside County. That's an increase of 36 cases from Saturday.
One death reported since Saturday
As of Saturday afternoon, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Riverside County stood at 2,602, including 74 deaths and 610 people having recovered from the virus.
In Coachella Valley, the cities with the greatest number of confirmed cases are Indio and Coachella. The highest total of fatalities related to coronavirus illness is in Palm Springs, followed by Palm Desert.
Cases in each Coachella Valley area city and community (As of 4/19/2020)
- Community of Bermuda Dunes
Confirmed Cases: 5
Deaths: 0 - Cathedral City
Confirmed Cases: 58
Deaths: 1 - Coachella
Confirmed Cases: 85
Deaths: 1 - Desert Hot Springs
Confirmed Cases: 26
Deaths: 0 - Indian Wells
Confirmed Cases: 10
Deaths: 0 - Indio
Confirmed Cases: 105
Deaths: 3 - La Quinta
Confirmed Cases: 43
Deaths: 0 - Community of Mecca
Confirmed Cases: 20
Deaths: 0 - Community of Oasis
Confirmed Cases: 4
Deaths: 0 - Palm Desert
Confirmed Cases: 74
Deaths: 5 - Palm Springs
Confirmed Cases: 78
Deaths: 9 - Rancho Mirage
Confirmed Cases: 23
Deaths: 3 - Community of Sky Valley
Confirmed Cases: 3
Deaths: 0 - Community of Thermal
Confirmed Cases: 7
Deaths: 0 - Community of Thousand Palms
Confirmed Cases: 4
Deaths: 0 - Confirmed cases in County Jails: 114
Increased testing underway
Anyone who wants to be tested can now make an appointment to do so. On Friday, health officials expanded testing to include those without any symptoms.
Officials said extending out testing to people that didn't show symptoms is part of getting a better idea of how many people have been infected or were asymptomatic.
"How many folks are walking around that are not sick, or don’t think they’re sick enough but are still potentially shedding of virus.? Currently we don’t believe these people are major drivers of outbreaks but we don’t really know how many of them are out there and it’s time to find out," Riverside County Department of Public Health Officer, Dr. Cameron Kaiser said.
"This will allow us to obtain a clearer picture about the spread of the virus in the community," Riverside University Health System Public Health Director, Kim Saruwatari said.
Testing for children
At a news conference last week, health officials stressed the need for testing among children.
"If you haven’t noticed there’s a really big hole in our numbers. Not many kids are coming up positive for COVID-19 and it may well be that they’re not sick enough for people to consider testing them. That has important ramifications for our schools," Dr. Kaiser said.
Where to get tested in Riverside County
A fifth Riverside County testing site is scheduled to open up at the Blythe Fairgrounds in Blythe on Wednesday.
There are currently 4 testing sites around Riverside County. They are located at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio (Tuesdays through Saturdays), at The Diamond Stadium in Lake Elsinore (Sundays through Thursdays), the parking lot at Harvest Christian Fellowship Church in Riverside (Tuesdays through Saturdays) and the Perris Fairgrounds (Tuesdays through Saturdays).
If you want to get tested, you will still need to call 800-945-6171 to set up an appointment. Officials said the turnaround time for test results is typically 3-4 days.
