COVID-19 Hospitalizations, Deaths Rise In Bucks County

The majority of the rising number of COVID-19 patients in Bucks County hospitals are unvaccinated, according to new data.

The county saw the number of new COVID-19 infections slightly fall last week. The number of new cases week over week went from 2,496 to 2,290, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data.

The COVID-19 test positivity rate increased from 10.7 percent to 11.9 percent last week in the county. A test positivity rate higher than 5 percent means health experts consider the spread of COVID-19 uncontrolled.

The amount of Bucks Countians in hospitals with COVID-19 increased by close to 20 percent over the last week. As of Tuesday evening, 149 local residents were in hospitals with COVID-19. Of those patients, 30 were in intensive care and 11 were on ventilators, Bucks County Health Department data showed.

New county health department information from Tuesday evening showed 71 percent of Bucks Countians in hospitals with COVID-19 were unvaccinated. Among the 30 COVID-19 patients in intensive care, 94 percent were unvaccinated. Looking at those in need of a ventilator, 91 percent were unvaccinated.

The county had COVID-19 deaths increase from seven the week prior to 11 last week, according to state data.

With the rapid spread of the omicron variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the new variant accounts for 75.8 percent of all cases in the region comprised of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Washington D.C., Virginia, and West Virginia.

Data out of South Africa has indicated the omnicron variant appears to have had a lower severity of disease than other strains. However, it is not fully understood why the variant appears less severe in South Africa, a country with a younger and less obese population than the U.S. Further studies in other countries are presently underway.

“It is probably unwise to sit back and think ‘this is a mild variant, it’s not going to cause severe disease,’ because I think with the numbers going up all health systems are going to be under strain,” chief WHO scientist Soumya Swaminathan said, according to a Reuters report.

The amount of new vaccinations and third dose and booster shots in Bucks County remained steady over the past week.

With the spread of omnicron, state and federal health officials have implored residents to get vaccinated and receive a third dose if they are eligible and have not yet done so.

“Hospital and health systems across the state continue to report the overwhelming majority of their COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated. We need all eligible residents to get vaccinated and get boosted to stop the spread of variants that are pushing health care workers to their limit,” Acting Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Keara Klinepeter said in a statement.

There were 77,298 people who were partially vaccinated and 367,452 who were fully vaccinated in Bucks County as of Tuesday, according to state data.

A total of 111,849 additional doses have been administered in the county since third doses and booster shots were approved in mid-August

The three COVID-19 vaccines in use have been proven safe and effective. For more information on how to get vaccinated, click here.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 85,758 COVID-19 cases in Bucks County and 1,525 deaths.

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