1 New Coronavirus Death In Montco Over The Past Week

NORRISTOWN, PA — There's been only one death from coronavirus in Montgomery County over the past week, continuing the steep decline in fatalities from the virus in the local area. In addition, the total number of new cases remains steady, and officials expressed optimism Tuesday regarding recent trends.

For all of September, four deaths from the virus were recorded in the county. The ages of the most recent victims, confirmed in successive weekly briefings from the Board of Commissioners, were not announced. The victim who died over the past week did not live in a long term care facility, officials confirmed.

There were seven deaths recorded in August.

Over the past week, there have been 259 cases of the virus, following 287, 347, and 294 in each of the three weeks previous to that.

"Case counts have been holding steady for three consecutive weeks thanks to our community’s diligence in following common sense guidelines like wearing a mask and maintaining social distancing," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said Tuesday.

>>Montco Zip Codes With Most, Least COVID Cases The Last 2 Weeks

Arkoosh again urged the need to continue to be vigilant.

"While this is good news, our experience over the past seven months, as well as what we have seen in other states and countries, shows us how quickly things can change when we let our guard down."

Along with the decrease in fatalities and total cases, the county's percent positivity rate on all coronavirus tests has declined down to a new record low since the onset of the pandemic: 2.43 percent. After falling to 2.45 percent in mid-August, it rose as high as 3.16 earlier in September before the latest decline.

>>Where Montgomery Co. Schools Stand On Reopening In-Person Classes

Meanwhile, school districts around the county are reopening to in-person instruction. Souderton reopened this week, while Lower Merion has also begun their phased reopening plan. Other districts are planning to reopen in coming weeks if the current metrics continue to hold steady.