Berks County gets rapid-test kits as cases rise

HARRISBURG — There were 1,557 additional cases of coronavirus reported across the state on Tuesday, as the state Department of Health began sending rapid-result antigen test kits to Berks County to help contain a surge in virus cases there.

The Health Department’s newly reported cases bring the total to 184,872 and include 17 in Lehigh County and 26 in Northampton County.

It also includes 81 more cases in Berks County, the fourth straight day Berks has logged 80-plus additional cases, creating a one-week total of 557.

For comparison, in the first week of September, single-day additional case figures in Berks never surpassed 50, and the one-week total was 256.

TheHealth Department, over a period of months, expects to get 3.8 million rapid coronavirus antigen test kits from the federal government. Some already have been distributed in Schuylkill County, which has seen increasing case counts.

The expanded distribution in Berks and other counties is happening because they are “struggling with the spread of COVID-19,” the department said in a news release.

The counties with the largest one-day increases were Philadelphia with 261 and Delaware with 112.

There were 918 people hospitalized around midday, compared with 773 a week earlier, an increase of nearly 18%.

The number of people hospitalized in the Lehigh Valley was 48 Tuesday, compared with 59 a week earlier.

The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases statewide was 1,461. Aweekago, it was 1,343.

There were 33 more deaths reported to bring the total to 8,533. One new death was reported in Lehigh County, with the total now 363 deaths in Lehigh County and 309 in Northampton County.

Contact tracing update

The department said 45% of the 8,580 COVID-19 cases reported statewide Oct. 4-11 had a case investigation underway within 24 hours of receipt of a positive test report.

The department said 790 paid employees have been hired for tracing work and related work in a partnership with Insight Global, and 210 more will be hired through the end of October.

The state also said there have been 320,000 downloads of its cellphone app, Covid Alert PA, that can let a person know of a COVID-19 exposure.