Montco and neighbors see increases in COVID-19 positivity rates
HARRISBURG » Each of the seven counties in southeastern Pennsylvania recorded increases in their coronavirus percent-positivity rates, but Montgomery County continued to have the lowest rate, according to the latest data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
For the period Oct. 16 to
Oct. 22, the percent-positivity rate for Montgomery County was 2.9%, according to the state’s COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard. That represented an increase from the 2.3% positivity rate the county recorded for the previous seven-day period Oct. 9 to Oct. 15.
Health officials believe having a positivity rate less than 5% indicates a county is controlling the spread of the virus and keeping it suppressed.
In neighboring Berks County, the positivity rate increased to 6.6% for the most recent seven-day period ending Oct. 22, which was up from 6.5% recorded the previous week.
State officials have placed Berks on a watch list of counties with “concerning” percent-positivity rates.
Meanwhile, Montgomery County’s other neighboring counties recorded the following percent-positivity rates during the latest seven-day period ending
Oct. 22: Philadelphia (6.1%); Delaware (4.9%); Lehigh (4.1%); Chester (3.3%); and Bucks (3.3%).
Gov. Tom Wolf said the state’s COVID-19 dashboard is designed to provide early warning signs of factors that affect the state’s mitigation efforts. The data available on the dashboard includes week-over-week case differences, incidence rates, test percent-positivity, and rates of hospitalizations, ventilations and emergency room visits tied to COVID-19.
As of Oct. 22, the statewide percent-positiv it y rate increased to 5.0% percent from 4.2% the previous week, according to the dashboard.
“Our percent positivity and incidence rate for the Commonwealth increased significantly in the midst of our fall resurgence,” Wolf said on Monday.
“We cannot emphasize enough the importance of Pennsylvanians being united in taking actions to protect ourselves and others, such as wearing a mask, practicing social distancing, washing our hands and avoiding gatherings. It is only by working together that Pennsylvanians can prevent the spread of the virus,” Wolf added.
As of Oct. 22, the state has seen a seven-day case increase of 10,127 cases. The previous seven-day increase was 8,849 cases, indicating a 1,278-case increase over the previous week’s total.
Counties w ith concerning percent-positivity include: Huntingdon (12.0%); Bradford (11.2%); Lawrence (9.0%); Lebanon (8.7%); Westmoreland (8.4%); Perry (8.2%); Bedford (7.6%); Luzerne (7.5%); Schuylkill (7.5%); Tioga (7.2%); York (7.2%); Indiana (7.0%); Lackawa
nna (7.0%); Venango (7.0%); Mifflin (6.8%); Armstrong (6.7%); Berks (6.6%); Cumberland (6.6%); Montour (6.3%); Philadelphia (6.1%); Franklin (6.0%); Elk (5.9%); Washington (5.9%); Mercer (5.6%); Dauphin (5.5%); Susquehanna (5.5%); Blair (5.3%); Clinton (5.3%); Clarion (5.1%); and Northumberland (5.1%). Each of these counties and the state bears watching as officials continue to monitor all available data, Wolf said.
For t he week ending Oct. 22, nine counties were in the low level of transmission, 43 counties in the moderate level and 15 counties recorded substantial transmission. They are:
• Low – Cameron, Forest, Fulton, Jefferson, Pike, Potter, Sullivan, Warren and Wayne
• Moderate – Adams, A llegheny, A rmstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Bucks, Butler, Cambria,
Carbon, Chester, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Greene, Indiana , Juniata , Lancaster, Lehigh, Lycoming, McKean, Mercer, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Perry, Snyder, Somerset, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Venango, Washington, Wyoming and York
• Substantial – Berks, Bradford, Centre, Elk ,
Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lawrence, Lebanon, Luzerne, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Philadelphia, Schuylkill, and Westmoreland
Wolf said officials from the state departments of Education and Health will speak with school district representatives in the counties with substantial transmission to discuss the implications of that level of transmission.
State health officials also
are providing weekly data on the number of statewide cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-year-olds.
Throughout the pandemic, there have been 13,345 total cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-yearolds. Of that total, 1,183 occurred between Oct. 16 and Oct. 22. For the week of Oct. 9 to Oct. 15, there were 991 cases of COVID-19 among 5 to 18-yearolds, according to the latest data.