Coachella Valley coronavirus news and info | Friday, July 24

Cactus Hugs has been tracking local stories about the coronavirus.   For a rundown of all of our updates, click here. Stay safe, stay at a good social distance. Thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs. For ways to keep this website going (and free!), click here.

As of 3 pm Friday, Riverside County officials have confirmed:

  • 33,467 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.  654 people have been reported positive in the last 24 hours.
  • 637 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus. The county reported no new deaths in the last 24 hours.

Here’s the latest from the Coachella Valley:

As of 3 pm Friday, San Bernardino County has confirmed:

  • 26,796 people have officially tested positive for COVID-19.
  • 372 people are confirmed to have died in the county from the coronavirus.  This includes 14 people reported dead in the county in the last 24 hours.

As of 4 pm Thursday, the State of California has confirmed:

      • 436,312 people have official tested positive for COVID-19.
      • 8,280 people are confirmed to have died in the state of CA from the coronavirus.


A study from the CDC shows that, even among those who had cases of COVID-19 that were not severe enough to seek hospital care, many people who have been infected continue to report health issues two to three weeks after testing. The study found over one in three people who had the coronavirus and were able to self-treat were still not at their usual level of health two to three weeks after testing. For people ages 18 to 34 with no underlying health issues, 1 in 5 were still feeling ill weeks later.

Another study determined that there are six distinct “types” of the coronavirus, involving different clusters of symptoms. The discovery by researchers could potentially open new possibilities for how to treat patients based on symptoms.

Palm Springs extended the city’s temporary eviction moratorium through September 30. The moratorium was adopted in early April and has been extended several times. The ordinance prohibits landlords of residential and non-residential property from moving to evict tenants, if those tenants have suffered financially due to the pandemic.  A city attorney did remind during the recent council meeting, “This ordinance does not prevent the tenant from being obligated to eventually pay back the rent.”

During the same council meeting, Riverside’s top health official said he doesn’t believe tourism has been responsible for much spread of coronavirus in the city of Palm Springs.  He credited the open spaces downtown and the rest of the city with taming the spread of COVID-19 in the city and noted that really isn’t all that much data about tourism and its impact on the spread of coronavirus.

The Riverside County Fair & National Date Festival won’t take place in 2021.  The county announced the cancellation on Friday. Officials hope the festival will return in 2022, which would be its 75th anniversary.

Riverside County will hand out 10 million masks to residents as part of the “Masks are Medicine” campaign announced on Friday.  The masks will be distributed by local nonprofits working in the community, as well as houses of worship, senior meal delivery programs and local businesses. In addition, everyone who visits a county or state-run testing location, will receive masks.

KESQ’s John White tweeted that he tested negative for the coronavirus – with the results taking nine days to come in:

I was reminded after seeing this tweet about how the news had everyone working from home when this all started and even ran non-stop promos about it.  Now, as cases spike to higher levels than we saw when that was going on, the local news anchors and weather people are no longer at home and some are apparently waiting nine days for covid test results.  If they could work from home then…why not now?  I am glad John is okay…or was nine days ago, anyway, but none of this makes any sense.  And it’s not just the local TV people – they are just more high profile – it’s so many industries in the desert and around the country that maybe adapted for a little bit and then, for whatever reason, just gave up and put so many workers at risk. And so, here we are. 

Be smart. Wear a mask. Vote. 

Meanwhile, what’s the White House up to nowadays? Well…

The $600 per week unemployment ended for many people around the nation today, the PPP program is coming to an end, people are losing their jobs and many are unable to pay rent. But none of that stopped Mitch McConnell and Senate Republicans from enjoying some rest and relaxation at home this weekend:

Finally…

Updates will resume on Monday.  Stay safe.  Wear a mask.  Thank you for your continued support of Cactus Hugs.

These are stressful times for all of us. Coping with stress will make you, the people you care about, and our desert community stronger. This link has some resources to help with coping and also numbers to call or text if you, or someone you know, feels overwhelmed.

Please, take care of yourself and each other. You are important. You are valued. You are loved. ??

Anything we missed? Let us know about it.