Here's How Montgomery Co. Is Doing On 6 Key Coronavirus Metrics

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — For the second week in a row, five of the six metrics tracked by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on the county level showed a slight increase in Montgomery County over a seven day period.

The metrics are part of the state's Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard, which paints a comprehensive picture of the impact and status of the virus in the community and the healthcare system at large. The most recently published data covers the time period from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3.

It's important to note that the increases remain slight, and that the larger trends in Montgomery County remain positive, health officials said.

The county reported 326 cases this week, 29 more than the 297 the week previous, and more than the 290 reported the week previous to that. The county recently expanded its testing capacity as a result of a partnership with a new lab, and each of the county's six community sites can now complete up to 50 tests per day. That capacity is expected to increase again this month.

The incidence rate of the virus per 100,000 residents is now at 39.3 for the seven day period, up from 36.8 last week and 35 the week before.

The average number of patients on ventilators has also trickled upwards the past three weeks, from 4, to 6.3, and finally to 7.7 in the most recent data.

Average daily hospitalizations per week, meanwhile, have vacillated over that time frame from 46 to 41 and back up now to 44.1.

The final metric which has increased is the percent positivity rating on all coronavirus tests. Montgomery County's number is now 3.2 percent, up from 3.1 percent last week and 3.0 the week before. Both are up for the county's low point a few weeks ago at 2.7 percent. Five percent is the threshold which health officials consider to be "concerning."

A sixth metric remained unchanged: the average number of emergency room visits per week due to coronavirus is still at 0.6, the Dashboard shows.

The county has seen 11,037 cases and 828 deaths since the pandemic began.

See the state's Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard and related data here.