Montco COVID-19 positivity rate remains low

“This definitely serves as a reminder that this virus is very much still with us and is still extremely contagious.” — Montgomery County Commissioner Dr. Valerie Arkoosh

HARRISBURG » While Montgomery County’s coronavirus positivity rate ticked up slightly during the last week, the county still has one of the lowest coronavirus positivity rates among southeast Pennsylvania counties, according to the latest data from the state Department of Health.

For the period Aug. 21 to Aug. 27 the percent-positivity rate for Montgomery County was 3.1 percent, according to the state’s COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard. That was an increase from the 3.0 percentpositivity rate the county recorded for the previous seven-day period Aug. 14 to Aug. 20.

Health officials believe having a positivity rate less than 5 percent indicates a county is controlling the spread of the virus and keeping it suppressed.

According to the data, Montgomery County currently has the fourth lowest percent-positivity rate in southeast Pennsylvania, behind Lehigh, Bucks and Chester counties.

Lehigh posted a percent-positivity rate of 1.5 percent, according to the most recent data, while Bucks posted a positivity rate of 2.6 percent and Chester recorded a percent-positivity rate of 2.9 percent.

According to state data, for the most recent seven-day period ending Aug. 27, other neighboring counties recorded the following percent-positivity rates: Delaware (3.5%); Philadelphia

MEDIANEWS GROUP PHOTO The developers have also applied for a LERTA, which is a tax abatement program.