Despite new COVID-19 cases rising throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Bucks County managed to have almost no increase over the previous seven days.
The county’s new case numbers for Oct. 4-10 totaled 229, an average of almost 33 per day and one more than the previous week’s total of 228. Infections spread within households and as a result of gatherings with family and friends continued to rise, accounting for 47 percent of last week’s infections.
Hospitalizations remained low, with seven county residents hospitalized with coronavirus as of Saturday, one of whom was in critical condition and on a ventilator. The county’s seven-day positivity rate dropped to 2.8 percent of those tested compared to 3.7 percent the previous week.
Bucks County’s new case totals stood in contrast to statewide trends in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Through Oct. 8, Pennsylvania’s average number of new daily cases had increased by 16 percent over the previous week, and New Jersey’s increased by 21 percent. Pennsylvania reported 1,742 new cases on Saturday – the state’s highest one-day total since April 11, and the third highest one-day total since the pandemic began. However, more than twice as many COVID tests are being done daily today than in April.
Gov. Tom Wolf said he was “very concerned” about the increasing state numbers, which health officials largely blamed on infections among people ages 18 to 22. Because of the relatively young age of those accounting for the latest spike, hospitalizations remain low statewide, though they are rising.
“Younger people have mild courses of illness, and medical care has improved for those at higher risk of COVID complications,” said Bucks County Health Department Director Dr. David Damsker. “Things will likely remain this way for the foreseeable future. We must continue to protect the vulnerable while using common sense to keep moving forward as a society.”
The county reported five COVID deaths last week, with three of the deaths occurring in September. The decedents ranged in age from 84 to 97, and all had underlying health conditions. Three resided in long-term care facilities.
Eighteen of last week’s Bucks County cases were delayed reports no longer considered to be infectious. Of the 229 cases in Bucks last week, 108 were traced to household contacts and 46 to community spread. Twenty resulted from infections at non-healthcare workplaces, 15 were infected during out-of-state travel, 12 are residents or workers at long-term care facilities, six are healthcare workers, one occurred at the county prison and 21 were unable to complete a full interview immediately.
An interactive Bucks County map showing numbers of active infections by municipality can be found here.
Additionally, the state Department of Health updated its travel recommendations to add Alaska, Indiana and North Carolina to the list of states recommended for domestic travelers returning from to quarantine for 14 days upon return to Pennsylvania.
