While a resurgence in coronavirus cases continues to spread across California, the number of hospitals with COVID-19 in the U.S. has deepened after data on record settings was reported last month.
In Riverside County – which has passed 400,000 cases and is approaching 800 deaths – public health officials reported that, as of Sunday, 373 people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 were hospitalized, including 114 in intensive care. In addition, 77 people with suspected cases of COVID-19 are in the hospital, and 13 of those are in intensive care.
These numbers are significantly down from the record high hospitalizations among coronavirus patients a month ago, when 536 people were hospitalized on July 15 and 136 were in ICUs.
Near San Bernardino County has seen a similar pattern. As of Saturday, the province had reported that 485 people were hospitalized, including 69 in intensive care.
While the total number of hospitalizations decreased, the number of ICU patients increased by 15% from the previous day.
Still, these numbers are far from the records set a month ago, when more than 600 people were hospitalized and nearly a third of that were in ICUs.
The drop in hospitalizations comes on the heels of a naked milestone in the California pandemic – 10,000 killed by the virus – such as reports that the state system used to calculate the number of cases could not register 250,000 to 300,000 results in the database.
Last Monday, 42 deaths were reported in Riverside County, the highest death toll in a single day since the pandemic began, according to the Los Angeles Times coronavirus tracker. In San Bernardino – which reported more than 35,700 infections and 546 deaths – health officials on Tuesday reported 59 new deaths, the highest daily deaths to date.
Numbers reported on any given day reflect activity of about two weeks in advance, so it is possible that the decline in cases is linked to the reinstatement of the state of shutdown orders in mid-July following a rise in infections.
But the trend is also due in part to younger people falling ill, as well as better control over the spread of the disease in high-risk institutions, such as nursing homes.
Younger adults now account for the majority of coronavirus cases in California. In San Bernardino County, the majority of COVID-19 infections are among people aged 20 to 29, accounting for nearly a quarter of all cases: more than 8,280 cases. Those ages 30 to 39 make up more than 6,950 cases. And in Riverside County, 20- to 39-year-olds account for more than 17,000 infections – 42% of total infections.
Both counties are currently on the state’s watch list, with at least 38 counties being checked for peaks in the number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. That list was frozen last week after health officials announced the technical problems with the state’s electronic reporting system.
California Director of Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly said Friday that he did not think the missing information would affect the statewide trend toward a decline in cases, but it was unclear how many overall positive cases were undercounted and if any counties were particularly affected. affected by the loss in data.
