Riverside County Awaits Hospital Update Following Long Holiday

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Riverside County officials will post updated coronavirus figures Monday afternoon, following the three-day holiday weekend.

The last time county figures were updated was Christmas Eve when the total number of coronavirus cases was recorded at 158,110, and 1,829 COVID-19 deaths were reported, according to the Riverside University Health System.

The figures represented 1,276 new coronavirus cases and two dozen additional deaths over the previous day, Dec. 23.

More than half the total cases recorded in the county were active infections, while the others were people who had recovered from the illness.

Hospitalizations continued to edge higher on Christmas Eve.

The RUHS reported 1,327 COVID-positive hospitalizations countywide Thursday, up from 1,322 on Wednesday. That number included 255 intensive care unit patients.

Riverside County and the Southern California region have remained at zero percent ICU bed capacity, but Riverside County Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton said local hospitals were resorting to "surge capacity" plans to expand critical care space wherever possible.