27 New Coronavirus Deaths Reported In Bucks Co.

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Another 27 people in Bucks County died of the coronavirus over the past three days, including 20 deaths reported on Monday alone.

Last week was Bucks County’s deadliest of the pandemic, with 92 deaths reported. That's up from 61 the week before. Monday now ties with April 29 for the deadliest single day in Bucks County during the coronavirus outbreak.

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Sixteen of those whose deaths were reported Monday were older than 70, one was a 64-year-old woman and three were men under 60 — ages 58, 50 and 42. All had underlying health issues and all but two were residents of long-term care facilities, officials said.

The county also reported 110 new positive COVID-19 cases on Monday. Forty-seven were residents or workers at long-term care facilities, while 12 were attributed to community spread.

The county had reported 100 new cases and two deaths on Saturday and 50 new cases and five deaths on Sunday.

At an online town hall meeting Monday, Bucks County Commissioners announced they had sent a letter to Gov. Tom Wolf, asking for flexibility in how coronavirus cases in nursing homes and other care facilities are factored into the county's total.

The number of active cases in an area will be the key factor as parts of Pennsylvania begin reopening under Wolf's color-coded plan.

"(W)e are submitting this letter as one of appeal as we endeavor to decrease the specific reliance on the incidence rate of COVID-19, per capita, as a major contributing factor to reopening," said the letter, dated April 29. It requests a dialogue on the subject with Wolf, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine or a member of Wolf’s staff.

At a news conference on Monday, Levine appeared to throw cold water on such appeals, though.

"We have been asked this question before and we are not going to separate nursing home cases from other cases in counties," Levine said. "What we have certainly learned in this global pandemic of COVID-19 is that we are all interconnected. One section of our community, such as a nursing home or personal-care home, impacts the general community and the community impacts that facility."

View Bucks County's letter to Gov. Tom Wolf here.

Wolf has set out a three-tiered strategy for Pennsylvania regions and counties to reopen, in which they move from a shut-down “red” status to a partially open “yellow” stage and, finally, to an open “green” status. He announced on Friday that 24 counties, mostly in low-population areas with relatively few COVID-19 cases, will be moving to “yellow” status this week.

Under the plan's formula, Bucks County would have to have no more than 320 new cases over a 14-day period, or an average of 23 new cases per day. The county has not had that few cases since March 26 and has had at least 100 new cases per day on more than half of the days in the past three weeks.

Bucks County health officials have noted that a large number of the cases have been in 61 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, while community spread has been relatively scant.

Of the county's 258 COVID-19 related deaths, 81 percent have been residents of long-term care facilities, officials said. The median age of those who have died is 82.

In all 41 percent of the county's 3,429 coronavirus cases have been residents or staff of those facilities.

On Monday, 253 people remained hospitalized with the coronavirus in Bucks County, with 28 of them in critical condition and on ventilators. To date, 882 patients have recovered and been released from isolation in Bucks.

Statistics, charts and other coronavirus-related information for Bucks County can be found on the county's coronavirus data portal.

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