New Bucks Co. Coronavirus Cases Hit Another Low

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The number of new coronavirus cases in Bucks County dropped again over the past few days, hitting its lowest level in the past couple of months.

Over the past four days, the county has reported an average of about 21 new cases per day. That's down from an average of 23 cases per day last week, which was already the county's lowest level since before the July 4 holiday.

Bucks County reported no new coronavirus-related deaths over that four day period and hospitalizations remained low — with 11 Bucks County coronavirus patients hospitalized and just three in critical condition needing to be on ventilators.

The news had local health officials saying that, at least locally, they agree with Friday's announcement by the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association that it would continue to sponsor fall sports, including football.

The move went against Gov. Tom Wolf's "strong recommendation" that school and youth sports be postponed until at least January.

"Given the improving COVID situation in Bucks County, the PIAA’s recent determination to allow athletics on a local basis makes for a good fit here," said Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Department of Health. "All of our districts have worked extremely hard to make a safe environment for their athletes, and we fully support any decision for the continued pursuit of student athletics."

For instance, Damsker said, there currently are no known active coronavirus cases in the entire Quakertown School District.

"While that won’t be the case every day, it’s very encouraging to see these kinds of trends," he said.

The county's public and private schools ultimately will make their own decisions about fall sports and they will likely run a gamut.

The Suburban One League, which includes most of the school districts in Bucks and Montgomery counties, will hold a meeting Friday in which each school will announce whether it plans to proceed with fall sports.

Of the 83 new COVID-19 cases reported in Bucks from Friday through Monday, seven were delayed reports that no longer are considered to be infectious.

Twenty-two of the new cases were infected by household members, 18 were attributed to community spread, 13 were infected out of state, seven were infected at work, two are residents of long-term care facilities, two are healthcare workers and 19 were unable to be complete a full interview.

Bucks County has now had 7,160 residents test positive for COVID-19 during the pandemic, with a total of 518 deaths. A total of 6,369 have been confirmed to have recovered.

The median age of those who have been infected in Bucks is 52, while the median age of death is 82.