Arkoosh: Montco at ‘fork in the road’ in fight against COVID-19

NORRISTOWN » As positive coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to rise at an alarming rate in Montgomery County, health officials warned residents they are at “a fork in the road” in the fight against the pandemic.

“The fall surge in COVID-19 cases continues here in Montgomery County and across southeast Pennsylvania. We are at a fork in the road of this pandemic. The path that each of us chooses will make all the difference in the next weeks to months,” county Commissioners’ Chairwoman Dr. Valerie Arkoosh said during a news briefing on Thursday.

“Working together we have the collective power to keep this virus suppressed, protect our hospitals, allow our children to attend school and

keep businesses open. If we do not work together, the outcome is clear, the virus will win,” Arkoosh added.

The overall 14-day COVID-19 positivity rate for the county, as of Nov. 7, was 5.45% which was an increase from the 4.39% positivity rate for the 14-day period ending Oct. 30.

Health officials believe having a positivity rate less than 5% indicates the

county is controlling the spread of the virus and keeping it suppressed.

A review of daily positivity rates from Oct. 25 to Nov. 7 showed the county was above 5% on nine days.

“Our positivity rate is increasing. Our hospitalizations continue to increase,” said Arkoosh, who was joined at the news briefing by fellow Commissioner Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr.

On Thursday, 171 individuals with COVID-19 were in county hospitals, which represented an increase of 70 individuals from the pre

vious week and an increase of 101 from two weeks ago. Thirteen-percent of the individuals require a ventilator, officials said.

At the height of the pandemic in April there were several hundred hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

“As a reminder, both hospitalizations and deaths lag behind cases,” said Arkoosh, who as a physician has been at the forefront of the county’s efforts to combat COVID-19 and provide citizens with the latest information regarding the outbreak. “If case num

bers continue to rise like we have seen this week, we will continue to see an increase in hospitalizations and eventually in deaths.”

Meanwhile, officials reported 512 new cases of the virus over the two-day period ending on Thursday, bringing the county’s total number of cases to 15,817 since March 7, when the first two cases of the virus were identified in the county. Three of the cases reported during the twoday period were individuals who resided in longterm care facilities.