Child rates of COVID higher than adult in 59 of 67 counties

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 5,583 additional coronavirus cases on Friday. The seven-day total of 34,555 cases translates to a moving average of 4,936 cases per day, up 6% from a week ago, and up 35% over the last 30 days.

While most of the country is experiencing declining case rates, Pennsylvania hasn’t been able to stanch its most recent wave, which began in early July, when the seven-day rolling average was 180 cases per day.

One bit of good news in the numbers is that coronavirus infections in children are at their lowest level in three weeks: 8,109 for the week ending Oct. 5 compared with 9,117 for the week ending Sept. 21, according to a weekly update from the Health Department.

However, when adjusted for population, children age 5 through 18 are contracting the virus at a higher rate than adults in 59 of the state’s 67 counties. That includes both Lehigh County — where children have been infected at more than twice the rate of adults for the week — and Northampton County — where school-age children are contracting coronavirus at 1.87 times the rate of adults.

Carbon County has the fourth highest overall rate of childhood infection for the reporting week, 660.7 per 100,000 school-age children. It is behind Potter (972.5), Bedford (806.5) and Clarion (712.9).

Philadelphia’s school-age rate is among the lowest in the state, at 222.4 infections for each 100,000 children age 5 through 18. But, with an adult rate of only 79.5 weekly cases for every 100,000 adults, children have contracted coronavirus at 2.8 times the rate of adults in the state’s most populous county.

There were 93 deaths statewide. There were two deaths in Northampton County and one in Lehigh County. The Lehigh Valley had 285 additional case reports.

— Eugene Tauber

ALLEGHENY COUNTY