Credit: CDC
Bucks County’s COVID-19 case numbers are slow ticking up.
Since the beginning of the month, new COVID-19 cases have risen, but not at the level seen in some portions of the state.
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The county reported a total of 265 new cases last week, a rise from the total of 229 from the week before.
In a statement, the Bucks County Health Department noted that the numbers do not approach the jumps seen in spring and hospitalizations in the county remain lower than spring.
Last week, the county’s seven-day positivity rate rose slightly to 3.1 percent compared to 2.8 percent the previous week. The state health department reported that Bucks County has seen a “moderate” level of spread.
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Among last week 265 cases reported in the county, 128 were due to household spread, 50 caught the virus through community spread, 27 were sickened through out-of-state travel, 13 through non-health care workplaces, 8 were health care workers, three were residents or workers of long-term care facilities, and 36 were unable to immediately complete contact tracing interviews.
The numbers show that household spread and social gatherings with friends and family were to blame for about 48 percent of all new cases in Bucks County.
“Our hospitalizations remain low, as our local hospitals are doing a fantastic job treating the sicker patients and keeping stays as short as possible,” Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Health Department, said in a statement. “Because of that, it’s a better situation as compared to March and April, and we need to continue focusing on keeping the virus out of places like long-term care facilities.”
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Last week, the county reported two deaths of COVID-19 patients. One was a 69-year-old woman and the other was a 92-year-old woman. Both had underlying health conditions, county health officials said.
On Monday, state officials said the fall resurgence of COVID-19 had arrived.
Over the past two weeks, the state has reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases per day.
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Berks, Blair, Bradford, Centre, Huntingdon, Lackawanna, Lebanon, Montour, Schuylkill, Union, and Westmoreland counties had “substantial” spread.
“Our percent positivity and incidence rate for the commonwealth both increased again this week in the midst of our fall resurgence of cases in Pennsylvania,” Gov. Tom Wolf said. “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 large gatherings. Together, Pennsylvanians can work to prevent the spread of the virus.”
While Bucks County only had five residents in area hospitals due to the virus and none on ventilators as of the weekend, statewide hospitalizations have doubled since September, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said.
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Since the pandemic began, Bucks County has reported 8,955 COVID-19 cases, 534 deaths, and 7,993 confirmed recoveries.
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