Riverside County sees locally acquired COVID-19 case

This scanning electron microscope image shows coronavirus emerging from the surface of cells cultured in a lab. (Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Posted: Mar 7, 2020 / 11:27 PM PST

Updated: Mar 7, 2020 / 11:27 PM PST

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Public health officials on Saturday announced Riverside County’s second case of COVID-19, and the first believed to have been acquired locally.

The person tested positive for the virus and was being treated at Eisenhower Health in Rancho Mirage, according to the Riverside University Health System.

“Public Health is following up on people who may have been exposed and an investigation is in progress to determine how the individual contracted COVID-19,” the statement said.

“We have always known this was a possibility,” the statement added. “We have been planning for weeks and are prepared to take the necessary steps to protect the health of our local community.”

The county’s first COVID-19 case was a former passenger on a cruise ship who was being treated at a Northern California medical facility, officials said. That patient has not been back to Riverside County since leaving the cruise ship.