Another Week Of Improved COVID-19 Numbers In Chesco: Updates

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Chester County's COVID-19 incidence rate has dipped below 100 per 100K residents, dropping the county from 'Very High' transmission risk as weekly COVID-19 metrics released by the state showed improvement again.

The COVID-19 incidence rate drop has been steady for weeks now. It's dropped from 162 per 100,000 residents just over a month ago to 136, 127, 103, and then this week to 93 per 100,000 residents, according to the Feb. 25 update of the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

An incidence rate of 50-99 per 100,000 residence, over a given week, is still considered a "high" risk for transmission, but rates below 100 — meaning 1 person per 1,000 in a population testing positive during that week — means schools have more options in their instruction models.

New COVID-19 cases reported were fewer this week by 93. In the week ending Feb. 18, 550 new cases were reported in Chester County, but in the week just ended, there were 488 new COVID-19 cases.

The positivity rate in Chester County held steady, at 5.6 percent, exactly the same as last week's measure.

Likewise, the average daily number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 was nearly unchanged, at 62 for the week ending Feb. 25, down from 62.7 in the previous week.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, 705 people have died of COVID-19 in Chester County, according to the county health department.

The significance of a continuing downward trend in COVID-19 transmission is that it makes it likely that many school districts in Chester County will make an anticipated update to their instruction models if they have not already. Schools districts this week began adjusting for the Chester Health Department's updated guidance that allows for a bare minimum of 3 feet of distancing between students in schools, with other mitigations in place, and dependent upon weekly COVID-19 metrics staying below the "very high" transmission risk category.

Keeping 6 feet of distance between students has meant most schools can only bring a portion of their students into classrooms each day, and so they have applied hybrid models that have kids in school some days and learning virtually other days.

The Chester County Health Department's new guidance includes updates on physical distancing, layered mitigation efforts, and community transmission levels. View a summary of the county health department's COVID-19 data here.

Read a story here about discussions of vaccinating school staff as schools move toward five-day in-school instruction models.

COVID-19 numbers in neighboring Delaware County are holding steady. Incidence rates there have gone from 210 per 100,000 residents a month ago, to 137, 144, then 109 per 100,000. This week, the state DOH reported Delco's incidence rate at 111 per 100,000 residents.

The positivity rate in Delaware County, like Chester County, is almost unchanged this week. In Delaware County, it went 6 percent last week to 6.1 percent in the week ending Feb. 25. Delco hospitalizations were up slightly, from 67 on average daily last week, to 75 this week.

To date, 1,272 people have died of COVID-19 in Delaware County since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Chester County Health Department data.

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