COVID-19 Deaths Set New Record In Riverside County

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — As the coronavirus Thanksgiving surge continues in Riverside County, Tuesday public health officials provided an update on the situation during the weekly Board of Supervisors meeting — but there was little good news.

The county's intensive-care-unit bed capacity was again reported at zero, a nurses' strike at one of the county's largest hospitals looms, a record-setting report of COVID-19 deaths was discussed, some hospital morgues are piling up with bodies, and the county's coronavirus case rate has quadrupled over the past 30 days.

The good news reported during the meeting, however, was that the first doses of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine are scheduled to arrive Friday in Riverside County, and claims of rising suicide rates in the county due to the pandemic are largely unfounded, according to Riverside County Public Health Director Kim Saruwatari.

Coronavirus Deaths, Cases

Tuesday saw the largest single-day report of new COVID-19 deaths, with 42. The previous high of 31 was set on August 2. Thirty-seven of the 42 deaths occurred December 1-10, Saruwatari explained.

The county's COVID-19 death toll stood at 1,628 Tuesday, up by 185 people since December 1.

Mounting deaths mean more bodies at hospital morgues. The Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner's Bureau has stepped in to take some of the corpses from hospitals, according to Riverside County Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton, but he explained that some mortuaries are also experiencing a backlog.

The rising death toll correlates with an increase in positive coronavirus cases. According to Riverside University Health System, the total number of cases now stands at 120,665 countywide, an increase of 974 since Monday. The total dates back to March when infections began to be documented.

Over the last month, the county's case rate has quadrupled and the positivity rate has doubled, Saruwatari said.

Hospital Bed Capacity, Staffing

The number of people hospitalized in Riverside County with COVID-19 stood at 972 Tuesday, with 195 of those patients in ICU. On Monday, 930 patients were reported hospitalized with 184 of them in ICU.

The county's ICU bed capacity is at zero, but hospitals are putting surge plans in place to convert their conventional beds to ICU, according to Barton.

According to updated figures from Barton, the county has 3,623 licensed hospital beds and 497 ICU beds. Countywide, hospitals are at 72 percent capacity, with 36 percent of all patients being COVID-19 positive. Forty-one percent of ICU patients are sick with COVID-19, Barton reported.

Across the Southern California region, ICU bed capacity was at just 1.7 percent Tuesday, RUHS data showed.

A nurses' strike called for by SEIU Local RN121 that is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. on December 24 at Riverside Community Hospital threatens to create a disastrous situation that would have a ripple effect across the county, and could cause patients to be transferred out of the area, Barton said.

"This presents a problem that will be a huge impact on our system," he explained.

RCH is currently caring for the greatest number of COVID-19 patients in the county, and also takes in a high number of heart attack and stroke patients, Barton said.

Where these patients will go if the strike moves forward as planned is uncertain. Mitigation and contingency efforts are underway in collaboration with the county and other local hospitals. RCH administrators are currently determining what services they might not be able to provide, Barton said.

Los Angeles County is being eyed to lend assistance if the worst-case scenario occurs.

With its approximately 21,000 licensed hospital beds, "LA is a resource to everyone in the region, if need be," Saruwatari said.

While the strike has been approved by SEIU Local RN121 union members, negotiations continue and an arbitrator has been called in, Barton said.

"There's got to be a midpoint," Supervisor V. Manuel Perez said of the pending strike.

Suicides, Overdoses During The Pandemic

Despite claims that suicides are on the rise during the pandemic, Tuesday Saruwatari provided statistics that showed otherwise.

For the period April-November 2020 in Riverside County, suicides were down 27 percent compared to the same time last year. Attempted suicides were also down 7 percent for the same period, based on data gleaned from hospital emergency rooms. Attempted suicides by youth were down 5 percent, Saruwatari said.

What isn't known is how many people have thought about suicide or attempted it, but never sought medical care, she explained.

Sadly, overdoses were up 19 percent for the April-November 2020 period, and most were unintentional by young people in the 15-24 age bracket. Fentanyl and benzodiazepines were to blame for the majority of deaths, Saruwatari explained Tuesday.

Vaccines

On the good news front, 14,625 doses of Pfizer's vaccine against coronavirus are scheduled to arrive in Riverside County Friday. Frontline health-care workers are the only ones eligible to receive the vaccine.

On December 21, another 10,000 to 11,000 Pfizer doses will arrive in the county. The vaccines are also slated for health-care workers.