Kids' COVID Cases Increase, Bucks Co. Numbers Flat Overall: DOH

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — New COVID-19 cases in Bucks County didn't increase much from the prior week's numbers, according to the latest health department data, but the numbers show a slight increases in COVID-19 positivity in children.

Last week’s seven-day average of 133 new cases a day was the same as the previous week’s average, though the total number of cases reported was slightly higher.

Between Sep. 13 and Sep. 17, the Bucks County Health Department reported 577 new positive cases, 10 more than the previous week. Of those cases, 77 were reported among children under 12 and 61 were among those 12-18, a slight increase from the previous week.

As of Monday, at least 58 people being treated for COVID-19 in Bucks County hospitals. Five were on ventilators and 15 adults were in the intensive care unit. Three deaths were reported last week.

At 6.9 percent, the county’s percent positivity rate on Monday was nearly a percentage point lower than the previous week. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers Bucks a ‘high’ transmission level county.

The drop in the county’s positivity rate came the same week that the state Department of Health published a report showing unvaccinated Pennsylvanians are suffering the worst effects of COVID-19 at far higher rates than their fully vaccinated neighbors.

Since January, the report says, 97 percent of COVID-related deaths were in the unvaccinated, or those not fully vaccinated. Likewise, 95 percent of hospitalizations and 94 percent of new cases also were among people who are either unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated.

At least 60 percent of Bucks County’s eligible population, age 12 and older, were fully vaccinated as of Monday, and at least 67 percent had received at least one dose of vaccine. Last week saw about half as many vaccinations as the week prior, with more than 2,000 residents receiving at least one dose of vaccine.

The county continues to offer first, second and third doses of COVID-19 vaccines at county-run vaccine clinics. For a list of vaccine providers and locations, click here.

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