Riverside County hospitals feeling pressure of higher caseloads

RIVERSIDE (CNS) - Riverside County health officials on Wednesday reported nearly three dozen new hospitalizations connected to COVID-19 and 17 additional virus-related deaths. According to the Riverside University Health System, 455 patients infected with coronavirus were hospitalized countywide as of Wednesday, up from 420 on Tuesday. That number includes 116 patients in intensive care units — up nine from the day before. Another 972 newly confirmed coronavirus cases brings the aggregate number of infections recorded countywide since the public health documentation period began in early March to 81,943, compared to 80,971 on Tuesday. The 17 newly reported fatalities brings the county's coronavirus death toll to 1,434, marking the largest one-day increase in several weeks. All b