Drive-in church services OK this weekend only

Drive-in church services that practice proper social distancing will be allowed this weekend in Riverside County, although the order to prohibit such activities will remain after Easter Sunday.

The clarification is issued from County Executive Officer George Johnson, who is the Director of Emergency Services during emergencies and disasters. This clarification is issued today, April 10 (Friday) and includes drive-in services for April 10, 11 and 12 (Easter).

Health officials continue to believe that residents should remain at home and only travel for essential services, such as grocery shopping, trips to the pharmacy and purchasing gasoline. The order remains until April 30.

They are also required to wear a face covering whenever they leave their residences.

Many churches held Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services online and plan the same for Easter Sunday. 

The permission for drive-in services for this weekend only comes as the California Department of Public Health on Friday announced the most recent statistics on COVID-19. California now has 19,472 confirmed cases and 541 deaths.

As of April 9, the latest data available, local health departments have reported 2,024 confirmed positive cases in health care workers: this includes on-the-job exposures, and other exposures, such as travel and close family contact.

As testing capacity ramps up, and more tests are being conducted directly in physician’s offices and processed through commercial laboratories, local public health officials will not be able to report the source of exposure for every affected health care worker.

As of April 9, approximately 185,300 tests had been conducted in California. At least 172,076 results have been received and another 13,200 are pending. These numbers include data California has received from commercial, private and academic labs, including Quest, LabCorp, Kaiser, University of California and Stanford, and the 22 state and county health labs currently testing.