COVID-19 Metrics Down Again In Chester County: Weekly Updates

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Chester County has seen COVID-19 measures improve overall for more than a month now, and this week's report from the Pennsylvania Department of Health shows the trend continuing.

The COVID-19 new case count was down by 81, with 371 new COVID-19 cases reported in the week ending March 11, down from 452 reported cases in the prior week.

The incidence rate per 100,000 residence dropped across Chester County from 86.1 last week to 70.7 in the week ended March 11, according to the state Department of Health's March 12 updated report.

The percent positivity rate for COVID-19 cases in Chester County was down again this week. Last week it had dropped below 5 percent, measuring at 4.7 percent on March 5. In today's update, the DOH said the county's positivity rate is 4.3 percent.

Average daily hospitalizations fell by 10 over the last week, from 56 to 46, the DOH reported today.

Chester County has shown steady improvement in COVID-19 metrics for well over a month now, and its schools will begin a return of students to four or five days a week of in-person instruction, based on the improving numbers, even as most districts have given parents and guardians the option of keeping their children at home in virtual school to the end of the school year.

The news about vaccine distribution across Chester County was not as positive this week, as elected officials confronted state officials demanding to know why Chesco and other suburban Philadelphia counties have had relatively little vaccine coming in, considering how densely populated the areas are.

State Rep. Dianne Herrin (D-156th) issued a statement on March 11 explaining the "PA DOH now distributes its federal allocation to locations like the Chester County Health Department based on other factors besides total population per county, using a 2-step COVID index. So, counties with higher infection and death rates, more 65-plus residents, and more capacity to administer/store vaccine, get more vaccines." Read the full story here.

Meanwhile, Gov. Tom Wolf announced on March 3 the state would get teachers and educational staff across the state vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine by the end of this month. Read a story about it here.

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