Montco records 48 new cases
Montgomery County officials on Thursday reported four dozen new cases of the coronavirus but no new deaths as the county headed toward the end of the 16th week of the outbreak.
The 48 new positive cases of the coronavirus bring the county’s total number of cases to 8,153 since March 7 when the first two cases of the virus were identified in the county. One of the individuals resided in a long-term care facility and the remaining 47 were other members of the community.
The individuals, 24 females and 24 males, ranged in age from 1 to 84 and they resided in 21 municipalities, officials reported.
While no new deaths from the virus were reported on Thursday, the death toll stands at 790 since the pandemic began in March. To date, 416 females and 374 males have died from the virus.
According to county data, 658 of the total 790 deaths involved individuals who resided in longterm care facilities, representing about 84 percent of the total deaths.
The 790 total deaths were “confirmed positive” COVID-19 cases through the use of lab tests.
On Thursday, officials said 90 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.
Testing for anyone who needs or wants to be tested continues to be available at the county’s communitybased testing sites in Pottstown, Norristown and Whitpain.
“The more we test, the more we know,” said Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh.
A walk-up testing site is available 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 610-970-2937 beginning at 8:30 a.m. daily.
A walk-up communitybased testing site also is located on the parking lot of the Delaware Valley Community Health Norristown Regional Health Center, 1401 DeKalb St., in Norristown. Testing is provided by appointment only from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. Monday through Friday and is open to Norristown residents and all established patients of the Delaware Valley Community Health Center regardless of where they reside. Residents can register for testing by calling 610592-0680 starting at 8:30 a.m. daily.
A drive-thru testing site at the central campus of the Montgomery County Community College in Whitpain will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday but will be closed on Saturday and Sunday. The site also will be open next Monday
and Tuesday. Registration for 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 or can call 610-6313000 to register for a testing appointment.
Between April 16 and June 18, county officials said, 10,785 individuals were tested at the county’s testing sites and officials have received results for 10,622 individuals, 1,331 of whom tested positive for COVID-19, representing a positivity rate of 13 percent over the 52 days of testing. However, officials said over the last 14 days of testing the positivity rate is an even lower 8 percent.
“That’s great. It’s the first time we’ve been below 10 percent at our county testing sites,” Arkoosh said.
Information about additional testing sites, including pharmacies, many of which operate over the weekend, can be found at www.montcopa.org/COVID-19 under the “County Testing Information” button.
“The more we test, the more we know.”
— Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh