Montco reports 10 more COVID-19 deaths; 94 new positive cases
“We still need people to stay the course and stay at home as much as possible and in public follow all of the guidelines and practices that have been recommended.” - Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh
EAGLEVILLE » Montgomery County officials reported 10 more COVID-19 deaths and 94 new cases of the virus during a news briefing on Thursday.
The 10 latest COVID-19 deaths included individuals who ranged in age from 50 to 101 and the deaths bring the county’s death toll to 558 since March 7, when the first two cases of the virus were identified in the county, Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh said during the daily briefing to update the community about the pandemic.
To date, 307 females and 251 males have died from the virus in the county. Officials said the racial breakdown for those that have died included: 13 Asian; three Asian Indian; two Asian Korean; 59 African American; and 164 white. Information about the ethnicity of the remaining 317 individuals was unavailable.
The 558 total deaths were “confirmed positive” COVID-19 cases through the use of lab tests.
Earlier this week, officials reported 179 other deaths in the county have been listed as “probable” COVID-19 deaths. Those are deaths that list COVID-19 as a cause of death on a death certificate but in which there was no laboratory confirmation of the virus.
Additionally, officials reported a total of 94 new positive cases of the virus on Thursday, bringing the county’s total number of cases to 6,213 since March 7. Officials said 22 of the latest individuals to test positive resided in long-term care facilities in the county while the majority of the cases, 72, are other members in the community.
The new positive cases included 39 males and 55 females who ranged in age from 3 to 101 and they lived in 32 municipalities. All 62 of the county’s municipalities have reported cases of COVID-19.
Arkoosh, who was joined at the news briefing by fellow commissioners Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. and Joseph C. Gale, said the county continues to have beds available at the county’s nine hospitals. Currently, 270 individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19.
“This is a slight increase over our low point a few days ago of 250 hospitalized patients,” said Arkoosh, adding about 22 percent of the patients require ventilators.
Officials said they continue to monitor coronavirus data from the 75 longterm care facilities in the county that are licensed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as well as from “other congregate care settings” in the county, for a total of about 620 facilities.
As of Thursday, 94 of the facilities reported positive COVID-19 cases among residents and staff. Specifically, officials reported there are 1,794 cases among residents of the facilities and 649 cases among staff at the facilities, for a total of 2,443 positive individuals.
Arkoosh said officials report the various COVID-19 data each day “in the hopes that people will understand the very real, the very serious challenge that we’re in here in Montgomery County and that they will do their best to take personal responsibility and be part of the solution in the way that they conduct themselves in public spaces.”
“We still need people to stay the course and stay at home as much as possible and in public follow all of the guidelines and practices that have been recommended,” said Arkoosh, emphasizing the mitigation measures, such as social distancing, that health officials said can prevent the spread of the virus.
Testing opportunities for the virus are available in Pottstown, Lansdale, Whitpain and Norristown.
The latest walkup testing site opened in Pottstown on Thursday at the county’s Office of Public Health Pottstown Health Center at 364 King St. Testing is available Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. by appointment only. To make an appointment, residents should call 610-9702937 beginning at 8:30 a.m. daily. The site will be closed on Memorial Day.
A drive-thru site at the central campus of the Montgomery County Community College in Whitpain is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily as testing supplies allow. Registration for each day’s appointments will open at 8 a.m. daily and will remain open until all available spots are filled. Individuals can register online at www.montcopa. org/COVID-19
Individuals who do not have access to the internet or do not have an email address can call 610-6313000 to register for a testing appointment. The Whitpain site will be closed on Sunday and on Memorial Day.
Between April 16 and May 17, the drive-thru site tested 6,039 individuals. To date, officials have received results for 5,892 individuals, 825 of whom tested positive for the virus. Officials said that comes out to about a 14 percent positive rate, which is a reduction from the highest 24 percent positive rate that was recorded around April 5.
A walk-up communitybased testing site for Norristown residents is located on the parking lot of the Delaware Valley Community Health Norristown Regional Health Center, 1401 DeKalb St. The free testing is provided by appointment only from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday through Friday.
In addition to being available to test Norristown residents, the site also offers tests to all established patients of the Delaware Valley Community Health Center regardless of where they reside, officials said. Residents can register for testing by calling 610592-0680 starting at 8:30 a.m. daily.
The Rite Aid Pharmacy located at 1856 N. Broad St. in Lansdale also is offering no-cost testing for anyone over 18. Officials said appointments for the tests may be scheduled online by visiting www.riteaid. com/pharmacy/services/ COVID-19-testing
A drive-thru testing site is available at the CVS Pharmacy at 840 South Valley Forge Road in Lansdale. For more information and to make an appointment, residents can visit www.cvs.com and click on “COVID-19 Resources.”