County sees downward trend in COVID positivity rate

HARRISBURG » Montgomery County and six neighboring counties continued to show downward trends in coronavirus percent-positivity rates, according to the latest data compiled by state health officials.

For the period Jan. 15 to Jan. 21, Montgomery County recorded a COVID-19 percent-positivity rate of 8.8 percent, a decrease from the 9.9 percent positivity rate recorded during the seven-day period Jan. 8 to Jan. 14, according to the Pennsylvania

Department of Health’s COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard.

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.

The county recorded the first two cases of the virus in March 2020 and this week marks the 47th week since the virus surfaced in the county.

Each of Montgomery County’s six neighboring counties, while still recording positivity rates above the preferred 5 percent threshold for the most recent seven-day period, did report decreases in positivity rates, according to the state’s data.

Lehigh County continued to record the highest positivity rate in the region at 14.8 percent for the period ending Jan. 21, which was a decrease from 18.7 percent the previous week.

Montgomery County’s other neighboring counties recorded the following percent-positivity rates during the seven-day period ending Jan. 21: Berks (13.2 percent); Bucks (9.2 percent); Chester (8.4 percent); Delaware (8.2 percent); and Philadelphia (7.4 percent), according to

FILE PHOTO Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf answers questions from the press.