Riverside County has changed the way it calculates coronavirus recoveries, and is now reporting more than 12,000 newly confirmed patient recoveries.
The number of people who have recovered from the virus now stands at 40,769, compared to 28,407 on Tuesday.
That huge jump is because the Riverside University Health System is now including all cases that it’s been unable to reach after 45 days of follow-up, which happens as a result of missing or changed contact information, or when the patient doesn’t answer or call back.
The county defines a recovery as a lack of symptoms for 14 days.
The new count also lowers the number of active coronavirus cases thought to be in Riverside County. That number is now at 9,875, a decrease of 12,030 compared to Tuesday.
Since the documentation period began, there have been 51,538 confirmed coronavirus cases and 984 deaths in the county.
Neighboring San Bernardino County has had 46,051 cases and 709 deaths.