New COVID Cases Level, Hospitalizations Down In Bucks

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County's number of new coronavirus cases appears to have leveled off, averaging about 30 new cases a day for the second week in a row.

That's up a bit from the lowest levels the county has hit. At points, Bucks County's daily number of new COVID-19 cases has been in the low 20s.

But health officials are calling the baseline number, in a county of roughly 640,000 people, along with low hospitalization rates, a good sign.

"Our numbers continue to look really good here in Bucks County and our hospitalizations continue to drop," said Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Health Department. "We’ve also noticed test results coming back more quickly from the major labs, which is extremely important for our prevention efforts going forward."

As of Monday, 10 Bucks County coronavirus patients remained hospitalized, with two of them in critical condition and on ventilators. That marks the first time hospitalizations have been down to 10 since the early days of the pandemic.

Two more people in Bucks County died with the virus over the past few days. A 49-year-old woman died on Sunday and a 94-year-old man died Monday, health officials said. Both had underlying health conditions and one was a resident of a long-term care facility.

The woman had been on a ventilator prior to becoming infected and had been fighting the virus since April, officials said.

Bucks County now has had 7,005 residents test positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic. A total of 517 deaths have been attributed to the virus, including 411 long-term care residents.

Another 6,111 are confirmed to have recovered from the virus. The median age of those who have been infected in Bucks is 52, while the median age of death is 82.

Over the past four days, 116 new cases were added, for an average of 29 new cases per day from Friday through Monday. Eight of those were delayed reports.

Of the new cases, county officials say 55 were from household contacts, 15 were attributed to community spread, 12 got sick out of state, eight are healthcare workers, four are residents or staff members at long-term care facilities, two were infected at other workplaces, and 20 weren't immediately able to conduct interviews.

More information on the coronavirus in Bucks County can be found at the county's online portal.