PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Pennsylvania has seen 21 straight days of 1,000 or more new cases of the coronavirus, which Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine credits to the fall resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“And this includes 2,219 new cases reported last Friday — the largest one-day total of new cases since the beginning of the pandemic,” she noted. “Over the last week, we have reported three days of more than 2,000 cases.”
Levine credits part of the rise to increased testing across the state, but she said the positivity rate — the percentage of tests coming back positive — is also going up.
“The statewide percent positivity is now at 5% statewide” — up from 4.2% last week — “and that’s kind of a crossroads,” she added. Generally, the virus is considered to be suppressed if that rate is under 5%.
In September, the rise in cases was generally among college students, but that demographic “doesn’t stand out right now.”
“We’re seeing increases in young people, we’re seeing increases in middle-aged people, and we’re seeing increases in seniors,” said Levine. “It’s really all segments of the population and in all regions of Pennsylvania.”
Levine said there are more reported hospitalizations this week too — 1,104 as compared to 841 a week ago. However, that is still about one-third of the peak of hospitalizations earlier this year.
And as health officials learn more about the virus, she said treatment has greatly improved, keeping more patients off ventilators.
Meanwhile, southeastern Pennsylvania counties are seeing upticks in total cases, aside from Bucks and Montgomery counties, where the positivity rates remain steady and under 5%.
While cases are rising in Bucks County, the seriousness of those cases is not rising in the same proportion.
Both counties credit small social gatherings and COVID-19 fatigue as the leading causes of spread, and officials encourage residents to continue to wear masks.