RivCo COVID-19 Update - Issued January 8, 2021
  Paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) from the City of Riverside and other first response agencies were among the initial first-responders to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine Dec. 31 in Riverside County.
This effort expanded the current groups of healthcare workers being vaccinated in Riverside County to include paramedics and EMTs.
When healthy individuals take the highly-effective vaccine, the spread of the disease will slow and stop the surge on local hospitals.
To learn more about COVID-19 vaccine distribution phases, visit https://www.ruhealth.org/covid-19-vaccine.
 The State of California Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA), working with the Riverside County Emergency Management Department (EMD), brought much needed oxygen into the county this week to help meet the needs of hospitals within the region.
The oxygen depot is comprised of two large oxygen generators that will fill the large tanks used by hospitals and will augment the local oxygen supply. Centrally located, Riverside County is an ideal location to provide this resource to neighboring counties.
Supported by Riverside County Facilities Management, EMSA staffing will be available 24 hours a day to fill oxygen tanks. The oxygen generator is expected to remain until suppliers are able to keep up with demands.
 A state-operated coronavirus testing site will provide COVID testing next week in Cathedral City.
Coronavirus testing will be available from Monday, January 11 to Friday, January 15, at NorthGate Community Church in Cathedral City, 30-010 Date Palm Dr. The site is open until 7 p.m. daily.
Testing is open to anyone. Appointments are required and can be made online at https://lhi.care/covidtesting. Walk-ins will be limited to replace missed appointments.
The site is operated by the State of California and OptumServe, in partnership with Riverside County, and can accommodate up to 165 appointments per day.
All residents are encouraged to get tested, which helps public health officials identify cases and ultimately slow the spread of the virus by more effectively isolating those who are COVID‑positive so they can recover without passing the virus to others. Testing is for everyone, regardless of immigration status, insurance, or whether one has symptoms or not. There is no charge to the individual.
Testing, however, is a snapshot in time. A test result is only from the point of time one got tested and the virus could be incubating. The virus can still be contracted from people who are COVID‑positive and may not know it. As the hospitals are under immense strain, it is important everyone keep their guard up and follow the public health requirements.
Cathedral City Mayor Raymond Gregory will get tested at the new site on Monday morning, the City of Cathedral City announced on Friday.
In addition to this temporary testing location, testing sites are at the Riverside County Fairgrounds in Indio, and state-operated testing sites at the Palm Springs Convention Center and in Desert Hot Springs. Riverside County residents are also getting tested at pharmacies, community health centers, nonprofit health clinics, hospitals, private testing sites and urgent cares.
For information on testing and county and state-operated testing sites, visit https://gettested.ruhealth.org.
 A team of approximately 20 federal military medical personnel arrived Thursday at the Riverside University Health System - Medical Center (RUHS Medical Center) to support the region’s hospitals dealing with record numbers of patients hospitalized and requiring intensive care treatment.
The Department of Defense team consists of physician assistants, nurses, and respiratory care practitioners from the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. The federal military medical team is part of a state of California request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for federal support to medical facilities throughout California.
The federal team is made up of active duty military medical personnel.
RUHS Medical Center continues to work to obtain additional resources to support staffing needs. For example, the state of California is sending additional traveler nurses to RUHS Medical Center to treat the influx of patients in surge spaces. Traveler nurses contract with different states and jurisdictions for six to 12 months at a time.
 As 2020 drew to a close, health officials remembered the lives lost during the pandemic and remind residents that, collectively, everyone contributes to slowing the spread of the virus. Coronavirus caused or contributed to the deaths of hundreds of Riverside County residents, including two children under the age of 18.
More than 2,000 residents have died from the virus.
The first coronavirus-related death in Riverside County was reported March 15 – an Indio resident in his late 70s. The two youngest deaths include a 12-year-old from Western Riverside County and a 15-year-old from Central Riverside County. The oldest deaths were found in three 104-year-old Riverside County residents, including a man from Corona, a man from Riverside and a female from Mecca.
Four county employees have died from the virus, including two deputies, one probation officer and one engineer.
“This disease doesn’t discriminate. We’ve seen deaths in the young and old. We’ve seen couples, family members and healthcare workers die from this disease,” said Kim Saruwatari, director of the Riverside University Health System-Public Health. “These deaths, combined with mental health impacts and economic losses, are painful reminders of how this disease has cost all of us.”
In addition to COVID-19 deaths, the number of fatal overdoses is up by 26.6 percent compared to last year. The unemployment rate has also risen to nine percent, representing approximately 107,000 job losses.
Taking simple actions like wearing a mask, stop gathering with others outside the household and getting the vaccine will protect yourself and others from the virus. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases is more than 180,550 in Riverside County and more than 118,800 have recovered from the virus.
 Local scouting troops are helping to package masks to help protect some of Riverside County’s most at-risk residents from the spread of COVID-19. The Public Authority is sending the masks to thousands of senior and disabled clients of In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS).
Clients will receive one package with 10 masks. Managers and staff in the Adult Services Division have volunteered to package some of the masks. Two local scout troops recently pitched in to prepare masks for mailing.
Donning their uniforms and wearing masks themselves, more than a dozen scouts from Pack 242 and their leaders met at Fiesta Village recently to fill 200 envelopes. Working from their homes, scouts with San Gorgonio Girl Scout Troop 176 packaged another 3,000 envelopes. Troop leaders say the girls are happy to support the effort.
Riverside County provided Public Authority with nearly 1 million masks, paid for with funds from the CARES Act. As of December, the Public Authority has mailed 70,000 masks to clients.
Public Authority is seeking more volunteers from non-profit, service and faith-based organizations to help package 30,000 envelopes. Interested volunteers should contact Veronica Ortega at veortega@rivco.org
 Ashley Furniture delivered new beds and bedding in Indio on Wednesday (Dec. 30) to be used for children entering Riverside County foster care on an emergency basis.
Ashley Furniture Homestore established Hope to Dream in 2010. Since then the program has provided 110,000 children in North America with new beds, pillows and bedding with a donated portion of mattress sales from participating Ashley stores. The company’s Colton-based store donated a total of 50 new beds to children entering Riverside County foster care in December.
More than 4,000 children are in Riverside County’s foster care on any given day, said Charity Douglas, assistant director of Children’s Services. Douglas said she was ‘thrilled’ by the support of Ashley Homestore for youngsters and teens in foster care.
Each child entering foster care must have their own bed before being placed with a family, Capen said. Many of the new beds will go to relative placements so children can remain with family members, who often are responding to unexpected and emergency situations.
To learn more about Faith in Motion and how you can support children in foster care, email Irene Capen at icapen@fosterall.org or call 951-228-5553.
 Dr. Katariina Rosenblatt was a lonely young girl at 13 when she was befriended by a woman who attempted to lure her into a sex trafficking ring. A cycle of false hopes, drugs, violence, and threats ensued, keeping her trapped in “the life” until she barely managed to escape alive.
Today, Rosenblatt, author of Stolen, feels grateful to be able to speak publicly about her experience and how to protect other children and young adults from becoming victims. Rosenblatt will join other survivors and experts as panelists during a virtual human trafficking conference hosted by the Riverside County Department of Public Social Services.
The free four-day conference is scheduled between Jan. 11 and Jan.14. Members of the public and media are invited to sign up to attend the virtual conference at www.eventbrite.com/e/2021-csec-virtual-conference-tickets-128559373547.
The conference coincides with National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, a time when partners and stakeholders spread awareness and commit to ending all forms of exploitation of humans.
Other speakers will include Opal Singleton, president and CEO of Million Kids; Clayton Cranford, the Cyber Safety Cop; and Norma Vazquez, Anti-Human Trafficking director of Operation SafeHouse.
Anyone can report suspected cases of human trafficking by calling the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.
 Riverside County residents who receive CalFresh assistance can expect to see the state add extra benefits to their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards on Sunday (Jan. 10).
The state has issued $128 million in emergency food benefits to 75,000 households in Riverside County since the pandemic began ten months ago. Sunday’s distribution is the eleventh emergency distribution during the pandemic.
CalFresh improves the health and wellbeing of low-income children and adult recipients by providing them with assistance to obtain nutritious food. The benefits also support local economies by generating tens of millions of dollars annually for local grocers and eateries countywide.
Qualified households can be eligible for the maximum CalFresh benefit during the pandemic. For example, a household of two that typically receives $53 benefits could be temporarily eligible for the monthly maximum $374.
Members of the public are encouraged to see if they qualify for benefits by applying at GetCalFresh.org, the C4Yourself mobile app or calling the DPSS Customer Service Center at 1-877-410-8827.
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