Newsom's Coronavirus Update Leaves Riverside County On Hold

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — While Riverside County continued to see improved coronavirus statistics Tuesday, it remains in a holding pattern for further reopening of local businesses and industry sectors.

During a news briefing Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced five counties — Amador, Orange, Placer, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz — can proceed with more reopenings. "Roughly seven" counties are also being monitored for further reopening, the governor said, but there was no word on whether Riverside County was one of them.

The cumulative number of coronavirus infections recorded in Riverside County since the public health documentation period began in early March now stands at 54,572 with a death toll of 1,075, according to the Riverside University Health System - Public Health.

The figures represent an uptick of 585 new cases and eight deaths since Friday's RUHS reporting.

The number of hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 continued to trend downward Tuesday.
Countywide, COVID-19 hospitalizations now stand at 175, a drop of 10 since Friday. Of the total patients, 60 are being treated in ICU — a decrease of three since Friday.

The number of verified patient recoveries — defined as someone who has not manifested symptoms for 14 days — was reported at 48,118 on Tuesday.

On Aug. 28, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a four-tier color-coded system to guide counties in loosening public health regulations. Riverside County remains in the purple or "widespread" tier of the state's reopening framework. The designation means some businesses must remain closed, substantially limit capacity or shift operations outside. Read more about the tier levels and what's open in Riverside County here.

In order for the county to progress to the next level — the red tier — it has to document less than seven new daily COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population over a seven-day period, and the positivity testing rate must be less than 8 percent over seven days. (Read more from the state here.)

Riverside County's case rate stands at 8.6 positive cases per 100,000 population over seven days, while its positivity rate was at 7.8 percent, updated state data show.

In total, 14 California counties are in the red tier, but only two are in Southern California: San Diego and Orange counties.

Announcements on progressing up or down in the tier levels are expected each Tuesday, according to Newsom.

Read more here about what can reopen once Riverside County progresses to the red tier.