COVID-19: Local cases continue to climb; public health hopeful 'current trend will remain'

Ema Sasic, Palm Springs Desert Sun
·4 min read

Local COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continued on their upward trend this week, but county officials hope the "current trend will remain" and not worsen this summer.

The nine Coachella Valley cities saw a slight improvement in COVID-19 cases last week, but substantial gains were made again. The cities added 642 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending Tuesday. That's up 11% from the previous week, when there were 578 cases reported between June 1 and 8.

Here is a full breakdown of confirmed total cases, deaths and recoveries by city since the start of the pandemic (with weekly changes shown in parentheses):

  • Cathedral City: 12,857 confirmed cases (+95), 151 deaths (+0), 12,603 recoveries (+88)

  • Coachella: 13,262 confirmed cases (+66), 121 deaths (+0), 13,058 recoveries (+54)

  • Desert Hot Springs: 7,992 confirmed cases (+49), 99 deaths (+0), 7,845 recoveries (+46)

  • Indian Wells: 648 confirmed cases (+4), 8 deaths (+0), 633 recoveries (+3)

  • Indio: 23,305 confirmed cases (+160), 281 deaths (+0), 22,856 recoveries (+151)

  • La Quinta: 8,414 confirmed cases (+66), 84 deaths, 8,255 recoveries (+69)

  • Palm Desert: 9,865 confirmed cases (+98), 148 deaths, 9,611 recoveries (+116)

  • Palm Springs: 8,302 confirmed cases (+65), 157 deaths (+0), 8,070 recoveries (+75)

  • Rancho Mirage: 2,842 confirmed cases (+39), 56 deaths (+0), 2,756 recoveries (+42)

There were also 83 COVID-19 cases reported in unincorporated communities for the week ending Wednesday.

Between Friday and Tuesday, Riverside County added 3,063 new COVID-19 cases. Wednesday numbers were not available in time for The Desert Sun's print deadline.

Compared to two weeks ago, there were 2,643 COVID-19 cases reported between May 27 to 31.

On Tuesday, there were 116 patients hospitalized in Riverside County, up 18 from Friday. There were also 11 individuals in intensive care.

One death was reported on Monday, bringing the county's total to 6,540 since the beginning of the pandemic.

Riverside County spokesperson Jose Arballo Jr. remains optimistic despite recent gains.

"While case numbers continue to steadily rise, the number of hospitalizations and ICU cases have remained relatively steady," Arballo said. "The rise would have been expected because of the lifting of mask requirements, increased travel and some large public gatherings. The fact that hospitalizations, ICU cases and COVID-related deaths have leveled off or dropped is a positive sign that could indicate that boosters have helped prevent serious illness and death among those who are vaccinated."

"The numbers of hospitalizations have increased slightly over the last weeks, but compared to only a few months ago, they are about the same," Arballo added. "The number of ICU cases and deaths have gone down over the months, which could indicate the vaccine is doing its job of preventing serious illness and death."

As cases continue to grow in the area, it's hard not to look back at the county's COVID-19 standing last year leading up to June 15, 2021, which marked California's grand economic reopening. Business returned to normal at restaurants and stores, fully vaccinated individuals could forgo facial coverings in most settings and social distancing would be a thing of the past. That was possible due to low COVID-19 metrics. In Riverside County on June 15, 2021, there were 54 COVID-19 cases and 39 patients hospitalized reported, according to state data.

Soon after, however, the delta variant began to ravage through the nation, and local case and hospitalization numbers rose drastically. More than a thousand new cases were reported daily, and hospitalizations hit a peak of 675 on Sept. 2, 2021.

This current wave of COVID-19 infections, however, has not reached the case and hospitalization numbers seen earlier in the pandemic.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the region has a low community transmission level, while other Southern California counties have moved in the medium level. Looking ahead to the next few weeks, Public Health is staying vigilant as people set sail on vacations and attend public gatherings.

"Community transmission levels have risen and fallen throughout the pandemic and the hope is that the current trend will remain," Arballo said. "With more travel expected in the coming weeks and months, it is possible we could see a higher transmission rate, so we continue to strongly recommend everyone who is eligible get vaccinated or boosted, and wear a mask when they are in public settings."

In Riverside County, 59.1% of residents ages 5 and older have completed their primary vaccine series, which includes both shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. About 28.6% of the population ages 5 and older has been boosted.

Ema Sasic covers entertainment and health in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at ema.sasic@desertsun.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: COVID-19: Cases, hospitalizations continue to climb in Riverside County