Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
County on target to transition to ‘green’
It could happen later this month
WEST CHESTER » If the trend continues, Chester County could transition to the green phase sometime this month.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s order says that a county has to be in the yellow phase for at least 14 days before moving to green. In Chester County, that day is June 19. After a county transitions to the yellow phase, health professionals are supposed to monitor increased coronavirus risks, such as significant outbreaks. If the risk is low for two straight weeks, the county can transition to the green phase.
But even in green, life won’t be anything close to normal.
“In the green phase, people still have to take precautions like wearing a mask to make sure that we don’t have new outbreaks,” Wolf said in a statement.
Moving from one phase to another will be based on a metric that includes whether a region has met a target goal of an average of less than 50 cases per 100,000 residents over a 14-day period. Nursing homes residents, private care residents and other congregant living facilities will be included in those counts.
In Chester County there have been 471 confirmed new cases in
the past 14 days. Compared with the previous 14 days,
there had been 532 new cases of COVID-19 in Chester County, a decrease of 11.5%.
Comparatively, in Delaware County, there have been 383 cases. And there had been 615 new cases the
previous 14 days, a decrease of 37.7% there.
The percentage of hospital ICU and medical surge beds that are currently occupied is less than 90% in the Chester County region.
As of Tuesday, there have been 304 COVID-19-related deaths in Chester County. Of those tested, 3,356 have tested positive, and 19,385 have tested negative. Of those testing positive, more than 1,200 have been in the age range of 60 and older.
There still has not been a single coronavirus case in Newlin Township.
There have been 38 coronavirus-related deaths in East Vincent, 31 in East Goshen, 27 in East Bradford, 19 in West Chester, 12 in Tredyffrin Township, 12 in West Brandywine Township and 10 in East Caln Township.
Chester County’s positive rate percentage is down to 8.2 and case percentage is down 9.3.
PCR/Nasal Swab Testing is becoming available for anyone who wants it in Chester County. The website is https://chesco. org/4460/Coronavirus-COVID-19-Testing-Information.
Chester County’s antibody test results: There
have been 13,000 tests, 4,000 for first responders and 8,700 health care workers. Of those, 91% tested negative, and 8% positive for IGM or IgG, 1% inconclusive.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health confirmed Tuesday there are 362 additional positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 79,483. All 67 counties in Pennsylvania have cases of COVID-19.
There are 6,276 total deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Pennsylvania, an increase of 33 new deaths.
“With more than half of the state now in the green phase of the process to reopen, it is essential that we continue to take precautions to protect against COVID-19,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “The commonwealth’s careful, measured approach to reopening is working as we see case counts continue to decline even as many other states see increases. But the virus has not gone away. Each of us has a responsibility to continue to protect ourselves, our loved ones and others by wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing and washing our hands frequently.”