Bucks Co. Positivity Rate Spikes To 15%, 38 New Deaths Reported

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Another 38 people died from the coronavirus in Bucks County last week and new case numbers shattered the previous record, as the COVID-19 pandemic's second wave showed no signs of slowing down.

The 3,227 new infections in Bucks County reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Health from Nov. 29-Dec. 5 marked the first time the county has had more than 3,000 new cases in a week since the pandemic began.

The previous record, 2,417 new cases, had been set the week before.

Last week's average of 461 new coronavirus cases per day also marked the first time Bucks County has averaged more than 400.

During the week, Bucks County had a troubling 15.3 percent test positivity rate — meaning more than 15 percent of the people tested for the coronavirus tested positive. That's triple the 5-percent rate health experts would like to see and is considered a sign that the virus is truly rampant in the community.

The death toll of 38 is the most in a single week in Bucks since late May and was up from 23 the previous week. It included 23 men and 15 women ranging in age from 23 to 95.

Eight were in their 90s, 11 in their 80s, eight in their 70s, six in their 60s, four in their 50s, and one in her 20s. Nineteen of them lived in long-term care facilities.

In November, 83 deaths in Bucks County were attributed to COVID-19. That made it the third-deadliest month of the pandemic after April, which saw 280 deaths in Bucks, and May, when there were 253.

Health officials in Bucks County say they are just beginning to see death and case numbers being impacted by a predicted post-Thanksgiving spike.

As of Saturday, 78 people were hospitalized with the coronavirus in Bucks County, with eight of them in critical condition and on ventilators. That's up from 69 the previous week, when just four people with COVID were on ventilators.

According to Bucks County contact tracing, 232 students and 31 school staff members tested positive for the virus last week — up sharply from the 112 students and six staff members reported positive the week before.

Most of the infected students were in hybrid classes or learning virtually, with only 18 percent confirmed to be in full-time, in-person classes.

The Pennsylvania health department reported that about 73 percent of the adult ICU beds in Bucks County hospitals were in use, up slightly from about 70 percent the week before.

The county had 34 percent of all its medical-surgical beds still available and 72 percent of all ventilators available as well.

Since the pandemic began, Bucks County has had 19,988 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 719 deaths, according to state figures.

The troubling Bucks County figures come as Pennsylvania officials are considering new measures to try to curb a virus that's clearly out of control.

Gov. Tom Wolf and Health Secretary Rachel Levine said Monday that more mitigation measures could be coming soon if the numbers don't stabilize.

"We will be making that decision in the next few days," Wolf said. He did not offer specifics as to what further measures are under consideration.

"We are looking at all kinds of things," he said, adding that more recommendations could be coming "very shortly."

Wolf and Levine implored residents to follow the existing guidance of staying home whenever possible, wearing a mask and not gathering. But if the numbers continue to trend in a troubling direction, stricter rules will be needed, they said.

Throughout Pennsylvania, the week ended with a record 12,884 new positive test results on Saturday, which was the third straight day of 11,000-plus cases. The statewide total of infections passed 400,000, while 11,262 Pennsylvanians have died and 1,065 were in intensive care units with COVID as of Saturday.

Last week, the Bucks County Board of Commissioners announced that county offices, other than the courts, would be open to the public by appointment only, effective immediately. Much of the county's workforce also has been ordered to work from home whenever possible, county officials announced.

They also are urging county residents to avoid out-of-state travel and social gatherings and to wear masks any time they are close to others, even outside.

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