Chesco COVID-19 Positivity Rate Dips Into 'Low Risk': Updates

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Incidence and positivity rates in Chester County are down again this week, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Friday update, which showed the county's positivity rate below 5 percent.

For the past two weeks, Chester County's positivity rate stayed at 5.6 percent. The state Department of Health reported on March 4 that Chester County's positivity rate in that week was 4.7 percent. Positivity rates below 5 percent for an area put it in the "low risk" category for transmission.

The incidence rate is also down notably, from 95 per 100,000 in the week ending Feb. 26, to 84 per 100,000 in the week just ended, according to DOH's COVID-19 Dashboard. Incidence rates between 50 and 99 per 100,000 residence represent the "high risk" category for transmission, per health department guidance.

Last week the state health department reported 500 new cases of COVID-19 in Chester County, and 444 new cases were reported in the week ended March 4.

The average daily number of hospitalizations for COVID-19 was down also, from 62 the last two weeks in a row, to 56 in the week just ended.

The COVID-19 incidence rate drop has been steady for weeks now in Chester County. It's dropped from 162 per 100,000 residents six weeks ago to 136, 127, 103, 93 and now to 84 per 100,000 residents, according to the March 4 update of the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

In Chester County, 719 people have died of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to the Chester County Health Department. A summary of the county health department's COVID-19 data can be viewed here.

The improvements coincide with the slow start to COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Chester County commissioners reported last week that more than 182,000 people are registered to receive a vaccine in Chester County. Chester County had administered about 18,500 first doses of the vaccine as of Feb. 25.

The county and other partners together have in all administered 43,765 first doses of the vaccine here and 33,273 second doses, according to today's state Department of Health update. Read a recent story about Chester County's plan for fast distribution of the vaccine, here.

Chesco's incidence rate fall is a good sign for schools. An incidence rate of 50-99 per 100,000 residence, over a given week, is still considered "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. As Chester County school districts are preparing to bring students back for every-day instruction later in March, administrators are keeping an eye on these metrics, because the move out of hybrid instruction depends on metrics meeting health department guidance.

Statewide, reported numbers are holding steady. The number of new COVID-19 cases dropped by 19 from last week to the most recent week, from 13,294 to 13,275 in the week ending March 4.

The incidence rate across Pennsylvania stayed virtually the same; it was 103.8 per 100,000 residents in the week ending Feb. 26 and was 103.7 in the week just ended, the DOH reported.

The state's positivity rate fell a half a percentage point in the last week, from 6.2 to 5.7 percent.

COVID-19 numbers in neighboring Delaware County improved by even more than those in Chester County. The incidence rate there was down to 103.6 per 100,000 in the week ending March 4. The DOH reported it was 115 per 100,000 residents in the week ending Feb. 26. That metric has gone from 210 per 100,000 residents over a month ago, to 137, 144, then holding around 110 per 100,000 for two weeks.

The positivity rate in Delaware County, like Chester County, is down this week. In Delaware County, it was at 6 percent for two weeks running but this week is reported to be 5.1 percent for the week ending March 4. In Delco, 37,343 people have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, as of March 4 and 41,234 had received at least one dose, according to today's state DOH update.

Delco hospitalizations dropped from 75 to 60 in the week just ended, the DOH reported today.

To date, 1,290 people have died of COVID-19 in Delaware County since the beginning of the pandemic, according to Chester County Health Department data.

The Pennsylvania Health Department interactive map of COVID-19 vaccination sites can be found here.

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