PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia might be seeing the peak of the wave of new COVID-19 infections, but city Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole says it's too soon to tell for sure.
"You know, I think we're gonna see wiggle over the next few days. And then it's just a question of whether we all can hold it together and manage not to expose ourselves,” Bettigole said.
“I mean, I think we saw a giant exposure over Christmas. It looks to me like Philadelphians were a bit more cautious over New Year’s. We haven't seen a massive increase the way we saw over Christmas.”
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The seven-day average for new cases on Tuesday was 2,978. That's down from the high of 3,108 recorded last week.
And the percent of tests coming back positive is also down: 31.5% now compared to 40% last week.
She says whether or not conditions keep improving depends on whether everyone keeps taking precautions like wearing masks indoors:
"This is personal this is about each of us thinking about what we're doing, the risks that we are taking for ourselves, for our families, and trying to prevent the spread of this, essentially to keep our hospitals from overflowing."
Luckily, hospitals aren't overwhelmed yet. Bettigole says some are stretched thin because of COVID-19-related staffing shortages. Some are delaying elective surgeries. But she says she's not aware of any hospitals in the city that are so full they're diverting patients to other hospitals.