Jeff Pack
Staff Writer
Riverside University Health System reported 1,092 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday and a record 28 new deaths due to the virus since Tuesday. In all, 31,982 have tested positive for the virus and 617 people have died since the county began recording data back in early March.
The youngest fatality reported Wednesday was a 38-year-old man from Menifee and the oldest being a 96-year-old woman from Palm Desert, according to Riverside University Health System spokesman Jose Arballo.
The county reported 212 people have recovered from the virus overnight and there were eight fewer people in the hospital, 528 total. But, there are currently 143 people currently being treated in ICUs for the virus, eight more since the day before.Â
The county reported that there were 273 confirmed cases in county jails and another 1,206 cases recorded in state prisons within the county.Â
On Tuesday, the county reported that 335,805 have been tested so far, 6,390 more than the day before,Â
Locally, Temecula added 16 cases (571). Murrieta added 16 (621), Wildomar added seven (265), Lake Elsinore added 17 (625), Canyon Lake added none (44), Menifee added 26 (714), Hemet added 42 (814), and San Jacinto added 28 (571).
In local communities, Anza added no new cases (7), East Hemet added three (160), French Valley added two (167), Lakeland Village added six (103), Valley Vista added three (110), and Winchester added none (7).
So far, two people have died from Temecula, 12 from Murrieta, five from Wildomar, 10 from Lake Elsinore, none from Canyon Lake, 10 from Menifee, 30 from Hemet, nine from San Jacinto, none from Anza, two from East Hemet, one from French Valley, two from Lakeland Village, none from Valle Vista or Winchester.Â
Health officials said the number of confirmed patient recoveries is 11,270. The county defines a recovery as someone who hasn’t manifested symptoms for 14 days.
Out of all the patients being treated in Riverside County, only one is from neighboring Imperial County, the site of a coronavirus outbreak that overwhelmed the county’s two hospitals, forcing some patients to be transferred to Riverside County.
Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Palm Desert, said Monday the county is in the midst of a surge, and that surge should not be blamed on Imperial County.
“We are experiencing a real local community spread surge that requires real local community awareness and responsibility to stop the surge,” Ruiz, who is also an emergency room doctor, posted on Facebook. “Blaming the surge on Imperial County patients is not based on evidence and the misinformation diminishes the urgency and need to take local public health precautions that will help our local community stop the surge.”
Most of the county’s fatalities stemming from complications tied to COVID-19 have been people between the ages of 65 and 84, according to RUHS. Most of the county’s infections are in the 25 to 44 age group.
City News Service contributed to this report.Â
Jeff Pack can be reached by email at jpack@reedermedia.com.Â
