PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now lists Philadelphia, Montgomery and Delaware counties in the "substantial" COVID-19 category, which means they recommend everyone in those counties wear masks in public indoors, regardless of vaccine status.
As a whole, Pennsylvania is averaging six new cases per 100,000 people per day, on par with late May. The new case rate during the winter spike peaked at 83. In the spring peak, that number topped out around 40.
According to Department of Health statistics, the current hospitalization rate statewide has crept up to where it was in late June. The 14-day daily average number of patients on ventilators across the commonwealth is 38. That number was 20 times higher in late December.
Related
Philadelphia and Bucks counties are both around 48 new cases per 100,000 people. Montgomery and Delaware counties are both around 51, while Chester County is at 37.
Pennsylvania also has a seven-day average of about three deaths per day. That's down slightly from the start of July when it was at five. Compare it to the winter peak of 227 deaths per day in late December.
The CDC is also looking at positivity rates, but each of the Southeastern Pennsylvania counties are below the agency's marker of 5%. The COVID-19 test positivity rate for each of the southeastern counties is around 3%. Philadelphia is at 3.9%, according to the state’s early warning dashboard.
In an effort to spark the vaccination rate, Pennsylvania health officials said they plan to send text messages to anyone who didn't get a second shot. House Republicans, however, call that an invasion of privacy.