Desert Hot Springs News

Governor Gavin Newsom has announced new business closures in California, in response to ongoing COVID-19 spread.

Riverside County Public Health Officer Dr. Cameron Kaiser has ordered all bars in Riverside County to close by Tuesday, June 30, in the hopes of slowing COVID-19 spread in the County.

With businesses reopening and the new City Hall nearing completion, Mayor Scott Matas and Assistant City Manager Doria Wilms provided an update on City news on June 19.

Desert Hot Springs is fortunate to be one of the Coachella Valley cities with a COVID-19 testing facility right within our borders.

The California Department of Public Health released new guidelines for reopening on Friday, June 5. 

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced today that effective immediately, counties that have been approved to move more quickly through Stage 2 may reopen hair salons and barber shops. In addition, the State announced that places of worship may reopen. 

The California Department of Public Health has approved Riverside County’s request to move into the State’s accelerated Phase Two of reopening. Effective immediately, many local businesses are approved for reopening with modifications.

When will things be back to normal? We're not there yet, but in this week's update, Mayor Scott Matas and Assistant City Manager Doria Wilms share the latest COVID-19 news and answers to common FAQs like these:

+Why can't we just open businesses?
Business restrictions have been issued by the Governor. Desert Hot Springs gets millions in state funding, and cannot risk the loss of those funds that likely would occur by defying the order.

+What are you doing to change that?
Mayor Matas and other Coachella Valley elected officials have been in contact with both the Governor and the Supervisors' office in order to exert political pressure that could lead to businesses reopening. In particular, there is an effort to convince the Governor to consider Coachella Valley as a separate region from Riverside County in terms of reopening benchmarks.

+Why do we need to be considered as a separate region from Riverside County?
As a whole, the Coachella Valley has already met the Governor's benchmarks to move further into Phase 2. As a County, the numbers are much worse, so we are barred from moving forward at this time.

+Is there anything I can do to help move us toward businesses reopening?
The one benchmark that Riverside County has not met is the percentage of COVID-19 tests that come back as positive. To lower that percentage, we need more people who do NOT have COVID-19 and are healthy to be tested.

+Where can I get tested?
There is FREE COVID-19 testing at the Lozano Community Center (12800 West Arroyo Dr., Desert Hot Springs) on Tuesday through Saturday, from 7 am to 7 pm. You do not have to have symptoms to get a test, but you do need to make an appointment. Call 1-888-634-1123 to schedule yours.

Stay tuned for further updates.

As we continue to move into Phase 2 of Governor Newsom’s reopening plan, the City of Desert Hot Springs has compiled this resource for residents to understand where we are as a community.

**UPDATE**

The test site opening date has been changed from May 6 to May 8, 2020. The text below has been updated to reflect that change.

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Riverside County has announced that a coronavirus testing center will open in Desert Hot Springs on Friday, May 8, 2020.