Riverside County is easing its novel coronavirus testing guidelines so that residents who don’t show symptoms can call for a test, a milestone in health officials’ efforts to understand the scope of COVID-19 in the county so that restrictions that have upended the economy and everyday life can be lifted.

Despite the new policy, announced Friday, April 17, and new projections that lower the expected number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Riverside County, the county’s public health officer warned against expecting an immediate return to normalcy.

“When the numbers are still going up like they are by nearly 200 cases a day, even in the context of all the testing we’re doing, that just means we bent the curve a little bit,” Dr. Cameron Kaiser said at an afternoon news conference. “We have not flattened it.”

He later added: “It’s really hard right now, and every one of you out there has given up a lot. But we need to know this information first or we run the risk of doing too much too fast and then not finding out about it until it is too late.”

Kaiser has not issued an official recommendation on whether people should get tested.

“It’s available if somebody wants it and it will help us see where the disease is present in the community,” county spokeswoman Brooke Federico said.

Riverside County’s latest numbers show 2,457 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county with 69 deaths, up 193 cases and 10 deaths from Thursday, according to the county public health website.

More testing, public health leaders across the country have said, is vital to learning the extent of the virus.

Previously, having symptoms such as a dry cough, fever, or sore throat was required to make an appointment for free testing at a county-run clinic or one of four drive-thru testing sites in Riverside, Lake Elsinore, Perris and Indio. A fifth will open at the Blythe fairgrounds, 591 N. Olive Lake Blvd., for four days starting Wednesday, April 22.

Kaiser said the first testing priority was to test the sick because they were most likely to spread the virus.

“Now that we’re to the point where we’re getting a handle on how many sick people are out there and we can identify those people and get (them) isolated … now we want to find out how big the problem is,” he said.

Riverside County has already had more testing than neighboring counties.

The 32,779 people tested so far represents about 1.3% of the county’s population. In San Bernardino and Orange counties, the equivalent of about 0.5% of their populations have been tested. Los Angeles County is up to about 0.7% and San Diego County is closest with about 0.9%.

Kaiser said he’s especially interested in more tests for children, whom he described as “a neglected population” when it comes to testing.

“It may well be that (children are) not sick enough for people to consider testing them,” he said. “And that has important ramifications for our schools.”

“Similarly, how many folks are walking around who aren’t sick or don’t think they’re sick enough but are still potentially shedding virus? Currently, we don’t believe these people are major drivers of outbreaks. But we don’t really know how many of them are out there and it’s time to find out. Without this information, we will not know what the right size of our response is.”

The county can do between 8,000 and 10,000 tests a week as it continues to ramp up its testing capability, said Kim Saruwatari, county public health director. It used to take seven to 10 days for results to come back, but that time has been shortened to three days as laboratories have improved their processes, she said.

To get an appointment at any testing site, call 800-945-6171. Appointments for the site at The Diamond stadium in Lake Elsinore can be made online at www.projectbaseline.com/study/covid-19. However, that website is only for people with symptoms and can only be used for appointments in Lake Elsinore.