SAN JACINTO, CA — A woman killed in a four-vehicle crash in San Jacinto that injured a total of five people was identified Friday as a 36-year- old resident of the city.

Venus Angel Aguilar was fatally injured shortly before 8 a.m. Thursday in the collision near the intersection of the Ramona Expressway and San Jacinto Avenue, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Sgt. Patrick Lynch said the vehicle the victim was in, along with three others, impacted for reasons still under investigation, leaving all of them “heavily damaged.”

County fire crews reached the location within minutes and immediately set up a triage and initiated an extrication operation because two of the victims had to be pulled from the wreckage, officials said.

Aguilar was one of the trapped parties and was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the fire department, two people were seriously injured, while two others suffered minor injuries. All were taken to a regional trauma center for treatment.

Three other people were evaluated by paramedics but did not require hospitalization.

The cause of the crash was under investigation.

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RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Riverside County‘s toll stands at 2,960 cases and 93 deaths.

The latest figures reflect reports by health officials Tuesday of 113 new confirmed cases and eight more fatalities.

Of the 240 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 72 are being treated in intensive care units — or 30% — down from 72 on Monday, according to the Riverside University Health System.

The documented number of people who have recovered from the virus stands at 757 — up by 57 from Monday.

Riverside County’s public health officer said Tuesday that coronavirus cases are now growing at a much slower rate, telling the Board of Supervisors that “targeted” removals of restrictions tied to the COVID-19 emergency may continue in the coming weeks.

“Overall, the (growth) trend is blunting,” Dr. Cameron Kaiser said during the board’s meeting. “It’s possible that restrictions can be relaxed or modified without losing protection.”

Emergency Management Director Bruce Barton told the supervisors that only about half of the county’s hospital beds were occupied, though two-thirds of ICU beds were full. Ventilator usage for respiratory failures stemming from COVID-19 and other hospitalizations were at one-third capacity.

Projections by Kaiser and other county health officials earlier this month predicted far broader burdens on health care resources by this point amid the pandemic.

Earlier statistical modeling had showed the possibility of 65,000 infections and 1,000 deaths by the first week of May. But health officials altered their predictions last Wednesday, saying the county is now expecting one-fifth of those numbers — less than 13,000 cases and 200 deaths.

The so-called “doubling rate,” a key metric RUHS officials have pointed to as an indication of unchecked viral spread, has also fallen. As of last Wednesday, it was taking more than a week for confirmed cases to double, an improvement from two weeks ago, when the number was less than five days.

All Riverside County residents can now get tested for the coronavirus if they make appointments over the phone in advance. Tests were previously reserved for only symptomatic patients, but health officials said the policy was changed in order to collect more data about the virus’ spread in an effort to pinpoint when containment measures can be eased.

Kaiser said on Friday he’s concerned about the lack of youth COVID-19 infections, fearing an unknown number of children may be dormant carriers of the virus, raising the potential of renewed spread.

“We don’t know how many are out there,” he said. “We will need time to find out and right-size our response.”

It was previously announced the county can test up to 10,000 people per week.

About 31,928 people have been tested countywide at the four RUHS-run sites — in Indio, Lake Elsinore, Perris and Riverside.

Riverside County’s fifth testing site is set to open up today at the Blythe Fairgrounds. It is scheduled to be open for four days, until Saturday, when officials will reassess whether demand for testing in the area necessitates keeping the site open.

The Board of Supervisors, meanwhile, voted Tuesday to approve formation of a task force that will team with Riverside County agencies and private sector entities to identify policies and measures that can lift the region out of the fiscal doldrums as the coronavirus emergency comes to an end.

“We need voices and decisions that can move quickly,” Supervisor Kevin Jeffries said before casting his vote with the rest of the board to support creation of the Economic Recovery Task Force. “We’re going to go into a time we potentially have never seen. Time is not on the side of businesses that have been closed. We need proactive and safe policies.”

Board Chairman Manuel Perez and Supervisor Karen Spiegel introduced the task force concept, citing the need to explore measures and actions that will “put our workforce back to work,” according to documents posted to the board’s agenda.

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RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Board of Supervisors is slated tomorrow to consider increasing fees charged by the Riverside County Department of Environmental Health for permits to sell food in markets, operate community water systems, store waste and conduct other activities that require the county’s stamp of approval, but many fees are expected to remain frozen for the
benefit of businesses hard-hit by the coronavirus emergency.

The board will take up Environmental Health Director Keith Jones’ request for hikes to raise permit fees by 3%, approximating an increase in the region’s consumer price index last year.
“The new … fees will produce sufficient revenue to support the proposed costs of providing services in the upcoming fiscal year for which (the) required fees are being charged,” Jones said in a statement posted to the board’s policy agenda.

“Businesses will be moderately impacted by increased fees for food market permits, plan checks, solid waste and hazardous material-related activities, septic tank and water well permits,” he said. “Every effort has been made to minimize impacts on industries which are suffering the economic effects due to COVID-19.”

A county ordinance passed in 2014 authorizes the department to modify fees to keep up with inflation.

Environmental health officials anticipate the agency will be saddled with heftier expenses in 2020-21, due mainly to greater internal service charges, as well as higher labor costs stemming from union contracts, pension obligations, insurance payments and lease outlays connected to five facilities.

The fee hikes will net about $250,000 in additional revenue.

Under the revised fee schedule, obtaining a permit to operate a 300- square-foot open air or closed market selling packaged goods would cost $246 annually, compared to $239 now; a mobile food commissary permit would increase from $606 to $624; a septic tank truck permit would g ofrom $347 to $357; a community water system operating permit would increase from $573 to $590, with up to two dozen connections, and from $1,142 to $1,176 with up to 200; and a permit to repair or modify an underground storage tank would go from $882 to
$908.

The department is proposing to freeze more fees than it seeks to increase, waiving hikes on body art facilities, micro-enterprise home kitchen operations, veterinary clinics medical waste generating facilities, brick-and- mortar restaurants and vending machine operators.

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RIVERSIDE (CNS) – The Board of Supervisors is slated next week to direct the Emergency Management Department to accept a $1.8 million federal grant to cover a range of costs directly tied to Riverside County‘s coronavirus mitigation efforts.

The allotment, which will be disbursed by the California Department of Public Health, is among the grant awards made available under the Coronavirus Preparedness & Response Supplemental Appropriations Act signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 6.

“This one-time funding is intended to reimburse the county for COVID- 19 crisis response for the period March 5, 2020, through March 15, 2021,” according to an Executive Office statement posted to the Board of Supervisors’ agenda. “The funding is critical support from the federal government to assist in the response to the ongoing pandemic.”

Almost 500 county residents have been infected, resulting in 14 deaths as of Thursday, according to the Riverside University Health System.

The grant will cover costs stemming from resource obligations, supply acquisitions, including surgical gloves and masks, equipment acquisitions, including ventilators, and the procurement of food and basic office implements, according to the EMD.

The funds will be paid based on submissions from the county to the state showing specific measures that have been put into effect. A spending plan must be forwarded to the state by April 9 detailing the county’s current and future expenditures for “early crisis response,” “surge management,” “biosurveillance” and other actions, according to documents.

Officials said that the process is already underway.

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Riverside County

The County of Riverside has identified hotels and motels with available units for unsheltered homeless individuals to provide emergency temporary housing during the state order to “stay at home.”

The temporary housing is part of a county program that includes case management, medical and wrap-around services. The housing is effective until the “stay at home” order is in effect.

“These much-needed beds will get our most vulnerable homeless residents into safe housing, because they need the most protection,” said Chairman V. Manuel Perez, Fourth District Supervisor. “This will continue to slow and halt the spread of this deadly virus.”

Eligible unsheltered homeless individuals include those who are 65 and older, pregnant, have a serious chronic health condition such as heart disease, diabetes, or lung disease, or have a compromised immune system. Homeless individuals who are ill or have been diagnosed with COVID-19 will be housed through a different system.

Eligible clients can be referred to temporary hotel and motel housing by calling the HomeConnect hotline at 1-800-498-8847.

The hotels and motels are located throughout Riverside County. The program is offered through the Housing Authority of Riverside County.

County officials will work with local homeless providers and the hotel and motel sites to identify homeless individuals who meet the eligibility requirements and to coordinate temporary housing. Efforts to identify permanent housing for these individuals are ongoing and will continue alongside the temporary hotel and motel housing.

This is the latest in a series of precautionary and preventive measures taken by the County of Riverside to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and protect the County’s most vulnerable populations.

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