Health & Fitness
Only 3 New Bucks Coronavirus Cases Were Community Spread
Of the 103 new COVID-19 cases reported in the county on Tuesday, about 60 percent were in long-term care facilities, officials said.
BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Only three of the 103 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in Bucks County on Tuesday were spread in the community, according to health officials.
About 60 percent of the 103 new cases reported Tuesday were residents and employees of long-term care facilities, according to Dr. David Damsker, director of the Bucks County Health Department. The 103 cases reported Tuesday brought the county's total to 2,776.
The other 40 or so cases, then, would have come from family members or others with known contact with someone who had tested positive for the virus. Officials said community spread in Bucks County has been limited for the past few weeks.
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Ten more deaths of people with COVID-19 were reported on Tuesday, raising Bucks County's death toll to 178.
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Nine of the 10 were residents of long-term care facilities and all had underlying health conditions. Those who died were six men, ages 98, 92, 91, 74, 72 and 71, and four women, ages 95, 94, 89 and 85.
State officials said Tuesday that, while there is no specific timetable yet for reopening the Philadelphia region, the coronavirus outbreak appears to be past its peak here.
"It does seem we are past the peak," said Pennsylvania Health Secretary Rachel Levine
However, she said, as the region prepares to reopen, "we are going to have to be very, very careful that we don't see outbreaks."
She said that, as officials consider when to reopen the region, the number of cases in long-term facilities will count toward the region's total.
"They do reside there, their staff reside there, and they will be included in the counties' numbers," Levine said.
A total of 207 Bucks County coronavirus patients were hospitalized on Tuesday, 25 of them in critical condition and on ventilators. In addition, 675 patients have been confirmed to have recovered, and have been released from isolation.
Statistics, charts and other coronavirus-related information can be found on the county's coronavirus data portal.
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