Inland hospital visits take dip
San Bernardino County sees virus patient visits below 100 for the fifth time this month
In a positive development in the campaign to beat the pandemic, coronavirus hospitalizations in Riverside and San Bernardino counties are beginning to come in consistently below the century mark.
The number of patients with confirmed cases in San Bernardino County was 93 as of Wednesday, state data show. That marked the fifth time this month and fourth time in five days that hospitalizations were below 100.
In Riverside County, 97 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, data show. The county’s patient total has stayed below 100 for seven straight days.
Hospitalizations have fallen precipitously since peaking in early January at 1,671 in Riverside County, 1,785 in San Bernardino County and 8,098 in Los Angeles County.
On Wednesday, L.A. County hospitals were
treating 512 virus patients, data show. For all of April, hospitalizations have remained below 600.
The latest reports came as L.A. County expanded vaccine eligibility to all residents 16 and older.
“The day that so many of us have been waiting for has arrived,” Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda L. Solis said in a statement. “With this move, we are one big step closer to putting this pandemic behind us once and for all.”
Riverside and San Bernardino counties expanded eligibility to those as young as 16 on April 6.
Here are the latest numbers as of Thursday, according to county and state public health officials: Riverside County
Confirmed cases: 297,078 total, up 170 from Wednesday, averaging 169 reported per day in the past week
Deaths: 4,519 total, up five from Wednesday, averaging nine reported per day in the past week
Hospital survey: 97 confirmed and 24 suspected patients hospitalized Wednesday, including 22 confirmed and no suspected patients in the ICU, with 21 of 21 facilities reporting.
The number of confirmed patients is down 8% from a week earlier.
Tests: 2,831,811 total, up 10,821 from Wednesday, averaging 8,236 reported per day in the past week
Recovered cases: 290,356 total, up 128 from Wednesday, averaging 159 per day in the past week
Vaccinations: The county
says 1,343,834 doses have been administered, with 449,775 residents fully vaccinated, as of Wednesday
Reopening plan tier:
Orange (moderate risk level; some indoor business operations are open with modifications) based on these metrics as of Tuesday:
• New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 3.6
• Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 3.6
• Test positivity rate:
2.0% (2.3% in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods)
• What’s next: To advance to the yellow tier where more businesses can open or expand capacity, the county would need an adjusted case rate below 2.0 and a positivity rate below 2.0% for the whole county and 2.2% in disadvantaged neighborhoods for two consecutive weeks, and to have been in the orange tier for three weeks. Riverside County moved to the orange tier April 6. If metrics get worse, the county could move back into the more restrictive red tier. San Bernardino County
Confirmed cases: 294,262 total, up 161 from Wednesday, averaging 300 reported per day in the past week
Deaths: 4,272 total, up seven from Wednesday, averaging 19 reported per day in the past week Hospital survey: 93 confirmed and 15 suspected patients hospitalized Wednesday, including 20 confirmed and 5 suspected patients in the ICU, with 23 of 25 facilities reporting. The number of confirmed patients is down 10% from a week earlier.
Tests: 2,818,681 total, up 7,719 from Wednesday, averaging
8,067 reported per day in the past week
Resolved cases (estimate): 288,772 total, up 138 from Wednesday, averaging 283 per day in the past week
Vaccinations: San Bernardino County residents have received 944,720 doses, with 252,753 people partially vaccinated and another 362,401 fully vaccinated, as of Wednesday.
Reopening plan tier:
Orange (moderate risk level; some indoor business operations are open with modifications) based on these metrics as of Tuesday:
• New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 3.8
• Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 3.8
• Test positivity rate:
1.9% (2.0% in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods)
• What’s next: To advance to the yellow tier where more businesses can open or expand capacity, the county would need an adjusted case rate below 2.0 and a positivity rate below 2.0% for the whole county and 2.2% in disadvantaged neighborhoods for two consecutive weeks, and to have been in the orange tier for three weeks. San Bernardino County moved to the orange tier April 6. If metrics get worse, the county could move back into the more restrictive red tier. Los Angeles County
Confirmed cases: 1,227,537 total, up 535 from Wednesday, averaging 531 reported per day in the past week
Deaths: 23,573 total, up 19 from Wednesday, averaging 26 reported per day in the past week
Hospital survey: 512 confirmed and 93 suspected patients hospitalized
Wednesday, including 123 confirmed and 16 suspected patients in the ICU, with 88 of 92 facilities reporting. The number of confirmed patients is down 5% from a week earlier.
People tested: About 6,251,000 total, up about 16,000 from Wednesday, averaging 13,000 reported per day in the past week
Vaccinations: The county says 4,913,321 doses have been administered, with 1,882,335 people fully vaccinated, as of April 6.
Reopening plan tier:
Orange (moderate risk level; some indoor business operations are open with modifications) based on these metrics as of Tuesday:
• New cases per day per 100,000 residents: 3.9
• Case rate adjusted for testing volume: 3.2
• Test positivity rate:
1.5% (1.9% in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods)
• What’s next: To advance to the yellow tier where more businesses can open or expand capacity, the county would need an adjusted case rate below 2.0 and a positivity rate below 2.0% for the whole county and 2.2% in disadvantaged neighborhoods for two consecutive weeks, and to have been in the orange tier for three weeks. L.A. County moved to the orange tier March 30. If metrics get worse, the county could move back into the more restrictive red tier. This includes the latest numbers from L.A. County Public Health as well as Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own health departments and are typically a day ahead of the county in reporting their cities’ cases and deaths.