As Riverside and San Bernardino Counties continue to see an increase in new cases of COVID-19 over the past month, many residents are wondering what the main cause could be. Due to the statewide social distancing rules being lifted in the middle of June, the Delta Variant of COVID-19 making its rounds, and the unvaccinated population these seem to be some of the factors for the increase in COVID-19 cases.
As of July 19th, Riverside County has a seven-day average of 177 new cases of COVID-19 per day. That number is almost five times as much as it was on June 14th, when the county was averaging only 45 new cases per day. For San Bernardino County, it has been even worse. On July 19th, the county was facing a seven-day average of 229 new COVID-19 cases per day, up from only 46 per day on June 14th.
"The county expected there to be an increase in cases when the restrictions were lifted, simply because people would go back to being close to each other without masks and without social distancing and in restaurants and movie theaters and everywhere else," San Bernardino County public information officer, David Wert, said. "The increase in hospitalizations, though, is clearly caused by the unvaccinated people who are still out there."
Those unvaccinated people, an estimated 37.7 percent of San Bernardino county's eligible population and an estimated 41 percent of Riverside County's, are being urged to get vaccinated as fast as possible. According to the California Department of Public Health, unvaccinated residents are not only at a higher risk of getting COVID-19, but they are also far more likely to suffer a severe illness, hospitalization, or death.
"Since February, more than 22,000 new cases were reported in Riverside County and 98.1% of the people who have been infected were unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated, which tells us that the vast majority of them fit in that same pattern," Riverside County Public Information Specialist Jose Arballo said. "So I think it would be safe to say that, they (unvaccinated people) are probably a big factor in this."
In Los Angeles, although vaccine rates are higher than they are in both Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, the spike in unvaccinated people being hospitalized over the last month has led to the county reinstating its indoor mask policy. While some may easily connect the dots and see that as a sign of things to come for the Inland Empire, Arbillo says that reinstating the indoor mask policy isn't yet on the table for Riverside County.
"At this point, we're not considering it and it hasn't been really brought up," Arbillo said. "Obviously, as it moves forward, we will monitor everything. Hospitalizations, ICU numbers, and if it's warranted, we might be revisiting the issue. But at this point, we have not discussed implementing or reinstating the indoor mask requirements."
According to Wert, San Bernardino County is seemingly in the same boat when it comes to reinstating the policy.
"The county follows the state's guidance at this point, and the state hasn't said anything about masks yet," Wert said. "Our focus is on the vaccinations. Masks definitely do reduce the risk of spreading and contracting, but vaccination is the best tool that there is out there to prevent serious illness."
According to a White House COVID-19 press briefing on July 16 by Dr. Anthony Fauci, Chief Medical Adviser on COVID-19 for the president, the Delta Variant of COVID-19 has been detected in at least 99 countries since the first round in June 2020. Since April 2021, there has been an overall increase of Delta Variant cases worldwide and on July 15, over 80 percent of positive cases were tied to the Delta Variant worldwide. According to the CDC, there are four notable variants in the United States: Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta.
“These variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19,” the CDC stated.
According to Fauci, at least 5 vaccines: Pfizer/BioNtech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Bharat Biotech, have some proof of protection against the Delta variant. Fauci noted that the Pfizer vaccine had a 96% vaccine effectiveness vs hospitalizations with the delta variant.
Vaccination appointments for individuals that are age 12 and up can be made by visiting myturn.ca.gov or by going to a walk-in or drive-in vaccination site. For more information on the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, visit cdc.gov.
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