Riverside County COVID: 'Pandemic Of Unvaccinated,' Delta Variant

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — The number of new coronavirus cases reported this week in Riverside County surpassed total cases reported locally in the months of May and June combined. Meanwhile, more than half of the county's population 12 and older remains unvaccinated against the virus.

According to data from Riverside University Health System, 3,351 new cases have been reported in the seven-day period dating back to July 23. That compares to 3,071 new infections reported in May and June combined.

While the virus spread is not nearly as high as during the winter surge — 101,057 new cases were reported for the month of January alone in Riverside County — the figures are rapidly worsening since the June 15 reopening.

Local health officials expected to see an uptick in cases when safety restrictions were lifted, but the vaccination rate has not kept pace with the increasing virus spread.

As of Friday, 49.6 percent of the county's 12 and older population are fully vaccinated against the virus, according to RUHS data. It's a figure that hasn't budged much in recent weeks.

The "pandemic of the unvaccinated," as some federal health officials are now calling it, has resulted in 261 hospitalized COVID-19 patients countywide on Friday — 65 of them in intensive care units. One week ago, 166 people were hospitalized with the virus, 32 of them in ICU.

The COVID-19 death toll was reported at 4,662 Friday, compared to 4,658 one week ago.

During a Tuesday briefing to the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, county Public Health Officer Dr. Geoffrey Leung said it will be another month or so before fatalities attributed to the current uptick in new cases are reported.

Ninety-seven percent of new COVID cases nationwide are occurring in unvaccinated people, and just .05 percent of vaccinated people statewide have become infected with the virus, Leung said.

"The most effective tool is vaccination," he said, noting that the shots are more effective at preventing serious COVID illness than antibodies from previous infection.

Leung also cited Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data that indicates herd immunity can only be achieved when 70-80 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.

Bruce Barton, director of the county's Emergency Management Department, told the board Tuesday that his team has been in regular communication with local hospitals, which are reporting three to four times more patients than normal for this time of year. Not all of the patient increase, however, is due to COVID, he said.

As hospital admissions go up, health officials are concerned about the fast-moving spread of the Delta variant.

During a Tuesday news briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters that researchers are finding that the Delta variant behaves quite differently than earlier coronavirus. She explained that while breakthrough cases are very rare in vaccinated individuals, for those who do become infected with the Delta variant, scientists are discovering that viral loads are nearly the same as in unvaccinated people, making it all that more transmissible.

"This new science is quite worrisome," she said.

Still, "the vast majority of spread is occurring among unvaccinated individuals," Walensky explained, calling it "a pandemic among the unvaccinated."

In breakthrough cases, "vaccination prevents serious illness, hospitalization and death, even with the Delta variant," she said, adding that vaccinated individuals are "20 times less likely to become hospitalized or die."

The latest findings prompted the CDC, the state, and Riverside County to recommend this week that all people, including those who are vaccinated, wear face masks in indoor public settings.

Some vaccinated people may feel they are masking up to protect those who willingly refuse to get the shots, but Walensky said there are other vulnerable populations to also be concerned about, such as children under 12 and immunocompromised individuals.

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