Mortality rates (Figure 2) have climbed, and are now at an all time high since the beginning of the epidemic. While there was a stable rate of 0.25 deaths per 100,000 population for the past three weeks, this rate is now 0.28 deaths per 100,000.

It is unclear to me why Riverside County elected officials have chosen to experiment with their own population. I do not have an expectation that Sheriff Bianco or the Board of Supervisors would necessarily understand the pubic health impact of their decision, as none have formal medical training. However, Dr. Cameron Kaiser who is the County’s Public Health Director should have known better – but has been silent. Now there are numbers to prove that unchecked political decision making is leading to more COVID-19 deaths among Riverside County residents than ever before.