Glitch In CA's Reporting Of Coronavirus Cases: RivCo Update

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A lag in the state's reporting of Riverside County's coronavirus cases is nearly resolved, although some of the backlog is still trickling in, according to a public health spokesperson.

"It's just about caught up," said Jose Arballo, spokesperson for Riverside University Health System, who explained that the remaining previously unreported cases will likely hit Tuesday.

Last week, it was announced by county officials that the California Department of Public Health’s electronic disease reporting system known as the California Reportable Disease Information Exchange (commonly called CalREDIE) was experiencing delays. The result was that electronic laboratory reporting of new coronavirus cases was not being submitted to CalREDIE’s system in a real-time manner.

On Monday, the number of new coronavirus cases in Riverside County rose by 1,531 since Friday's reporting, bringing the county's total to 41,983 — with 21,898 of those people recovered from illness, according to Riverside University Heath System data.

Arballo said Monday's figures were not affected by the lag.

The number of dead rose by 21 people since Friday, bringing Riverside County's coronavirus death toll to 820.

Coronavirus hospitalizations dropped over the weekend. On Monday, 359 patients were hospitalized, with 112 of those people in ICU. Friday's figures showed 409 hospitalizations with 125 ICU patients.

On Tuesday, Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton told the Board of Supervisors that the county had "seen a downward trend in hospitalizations for the past 10 days."

"In the prior week, we were (averaging) 475 in the hospital each day," he said. "But we've steadily seen COVID-positive hospitalizations go down. ICU utilization has also leveled off and come down slightly."

The greatest number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations is in District 4, which encompasses the Coachella Valley, Barton said.

Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage has seen the heaviest demand for COVID-19 treatment, requiring a 19-person federal medical team to assist on-site staff, the EMD director said.

Department of Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari told the board that District 4 also has had the highest proportion of coronavirus-related deaths. She said nearly two-thirds — 63 percent — of all deaths coded as COVID-19 were correlated to underlying conditions, principally chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease.

Most of the county's fatalities stemming from complications tied to COVID-19 have been people between the ages of 65 and 84, Saruwatari said.

The number of people tested for coronavirus in Riverside County is 403,340.

School begins this week for most Riverside County students, with districts offering all-virtual learning environments after Gov. Gavin Newsom announced July 17 that all counties on the California Department of Public Health's "Monitoring List" would not be permitted to open campuses for in-person classes due to high COVID- 19 infection rates. Riverside County has remained on the state's list.

The governor later announced that school districts could apply for a waiver that would possibly allow for in-person learning. However, last week Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser issued a memorandum to public and private elementary school officials stating that the county does not currently meet the state’s threshold to begin accepting waivers.