COVID-19 Metrics Up In Chesco Over Last 7 Days, 39 Die In 16 Days

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Early December brought slow and steady numbers of persons dying of COVID-19 in Chester County, 39 succumbing to the disease in the first 16 days of this month.

The Chester County Department of Health website reported 462 deaths in the county as of Dec. 20.

December began with four deaths from COVID-19 on the first of the month. On Dec. 2, two died. On Dec. 3, one died and on Dec. 4, four died.

On Dec. 5, three died and on Dec. 6, seven died.

On Dec. 7, four died and on Dec. 8, three died.

On Dec. 9, one died. On Dec. 10, one died.

On Dec. 11, two died and on Dec. 12, two also died. On Dec. 13, three died.

When Dec. 14 came, it was the first day in December that no one died of COVID-19 in Chester County.

On Dec. 15, one died and on Dec. 16, one died.

There were no deaths from COVID-19 reported on Dec. 17, 18, 19, or 20. In all, 39 persons have died of COVID-19 this month in Chester County, the county's health department reported today.

Chester County's COVID-19 case numbers and other metrics rose in the last seven-day measure, and most notably hospitalizations were up here, as statewide numbers evened out after a recent surge.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported new COVID-19 cases in Chester County rose by 132 the week of Dec. 12-18, compared to the previous week. The week of Dec. 5-11, 1,751 new cases were reported here. In the week of Dec.12-18, 1,883 new cases were reported.

The incidence rate in the county also went up in that same seven-day period, compared to the week before: it rose from 335.4 per 100,000 residents to 360.7 per 100,000 residents.

The percent testing positive rate also rose over that seven-day period, in the week-by-week comparison. It went from 11.3 to 11.7 percent.

Hospitalizations in Chester County and patients on ventilators showed steeper climbs in the weekly metrics. Overall, there were 41 more persons in hospitals for COVID-19 every day this week compare to last week.

Hospitalizations are measured by the average number of people hospitalized each day for COVID-19 in the county. The week of Dec. 5-11, average daily hospitalizations were at 132.7, and during the week of Dec. 12-18, 173.9 persons on average were in a Chesco hospital with COVID-19.

The average daily number of persons on ventilators for COVID-19 went up also in the last week, from 7.9 to 11 in the most recent week measured.

The percent of emergency room visits due to COVID-19 type symptoms dropped from 2.0 to 1.6 percent. It was the only metric that did not go up on the state's COVID-19 Dashboard.

Chester County reports 17, 685 positive tests here, at its Dec. 20 update.

Across the state, new COVID-19 cases reported went down over the past week, with 4,371 fewer new cases reported the week of Dec. 12-18, compared to the week before.

The percent positivity rate also dropped from 16.1 to 15.8 percent from week to week. The incidence rate fell from 480 per 100,00 the week of Dec. 5-11 to 445.8 the week of Dec. 12-18.