Be careful: COVID still spreading

Maybe it was inevitable. The start of spring last weekend brought with it warm temperatures, days of blue skies and sunshine, and good news: Widespread vaccinations to stop COVID-19 in its tracks were finally taking hold.

Montgomery County opened its third vaccination site Friday in a former Petco store at a Willow Grove shopping center. In Berks, the Medicine Shoppe at Shillington had enough doses to host a vaccination clinic Saturday at Gov. Mifflin High School. More schools are reopening for inperson instruction as teachers are being vaccinated under the state’s program with Johnson&Johnson vaccine.

The news about community spread the first week in March was also positive. Positivity rates reported for the week ending March 12 were below the critical benchmark 5 percent in Montgomery and Chester counties with case numbers dropping across the region.

And then spring happened … Positivity rates reported Monday for the seven-day period ending March 19 had upticks across the board.

Most alarming was Berks County which went from 7.8% to 10% in reports from March 12 to March 19. Berks recorded 316 new cases on Saturday after weeks of declining numbers. On March 3, the 14-day average was at a low of 91.

Six of the seven counties in Southeast Pennsylvania, including Montgomery County, recorded increases in coronavirus positivity rates this week, and none met the below-5% threshold for suppressing the virus, according to data compiled by state health officials.

Montgomery County recorded a coronavirus positivity rate of 5.7% for the period March 12 to March 18, which was an increase from the 4.8% positivity rate recorded a week earlier, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard.

Delaware County, with a positivity rate of 5.2%, is the only county in the region to record a slight decrease from 5.4% the previous week. Bucks recorded 7.5%; Chester 5.6%; and Philadelphia 6.1%, according to the state data.

The statewide positivity rate was 6.5% which was an increase from the 5.7% positivity rate recorded the previous week.

As of March 18, the state recorded a seven-day increase of 14,182 coronavirus cases. The previous seven-day increase was 12,802 cases, indicating 1,380 additional new cases across the state over the past week compared to the previous week.

“The number of new cases has slightly increased, and so has the statewide percent positivity, which is still concerning,” Gov. Tom Wolf said on Monday. “As more and more Pennsylvanians are getting vaccinated, we must not forget to follow the mitigation measures still in place.

“As the weather gets warm, please remember to wear a mask, practice social distance and wash your hands frequently as the virus still has a presence in our communities,” Wolf added.

The state is approaching 1 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus, and nearly 24,800 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19, the Associated Press reported Monday. Numbers of cases, hospitalizations and deaths had been dropping after a winter peak, but this week saw cases rising again — from about 2,500 a day two weeks ago to 2,900 a day as of this weekend.

There was no official comment Monday on the uptick in cases regionally and statewide, but anyone observing trends could see the spring factor in play in recent days as people weary of being cooped up indoors crowded outdoor spaces and shopping areas.

People are getting out and about — resuming some travel, planning get-togethers, going to gyms and restaurants as restrictions are easing — and the warmth-induced sense of freedom may be causing some to forgo masks and social distance.

The sun is shining; vaccines are here: What can go wrong?

Plenty, as this week’s concerning numbers point out.

The same precautions and words of wisdom apply today as they did last month — wear a mask, maintain social distance, avoid gatherings and stay safe.

This is not the time to throw caution to the wind, or spring breezes, for that matter. Let’s maintain that sense of moving forward by continuing to follow precautions. The alternative is falling back, and that’s the last thing anyone wants to see. Summer, after all, is coming soon.