Bucks County has reported a COVID-19 patient hospitalization rate that hasn’t been matched since March 25, the first weeks of the pandemic in the area.
As of Thursday evening, seven Bucks Countians were in local hospitals due to COVID-19 and two were on ventilators in critical condition.
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“It’s very encouraging that our hospitalization numbers continue to drop. That, to me, is the real factor to watch,” Bucks County Health Department Director Dr. David Damsker said in a statement. “Case counts will continue to fluctuate up and down for a long time to come, but they start to matter less and less if people aren’t getting seriously ill.”
While the number of COVID-19 patients in local hospitals has dropped, the county reported a bump in new cases over the previous week. The county reported 111 new cases between Tuesday and Thursday, while last week there were 70 cases over the three day period.
Among the new cases, four of the 111 reports were delayed long enough that they were not considered infections, county officials said.
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The county reported 30 new cases on Tuesday, 24 of Wednesday, and 47 on Thursday.
Of the 111 cases, 37 cases were due to household contact, 22 were caught through residents and staff at long-term care centers, 10 cases were from community spread, nine were from out-of-state travel, eight were healthcare employees, seven workers were sickened through of contact at other workplaces, and 18 were unable to be fully interviewed by contact tracers.
“We need the long term care facilities to continue keeping their guard up, as we have had some cases in those locations recently, in both staff and residents. The illnesses have luckily been mild or asymptomatic thus far, but those are the patients with the highest risk,” Damsker said.
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Since the pandemic began, Bucks County has reported 7,457 residents with positive COVID-19 tests, 519 deaths, and 6,579 recoveries.
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