PA's Statewide Positivity Rate Nears 1 Percent

PENNSYLVANIA — Pennsylvania continues to see its numbers trend in a direction that indicates the end of the pandemic could be rapidly approaching.

The statewide percent positivity rating has now fallen all the way to 1.2 percent, down from 1.4 percent last week, and down from 8.6 percent as recently as early May. Any percentage below 5 percent is considered "suppression" of the virus.

All that, 65 of the state's 67 counties are below the 5 percent threshold, and none are over 10 percent.

“We are continuing to make progress toward stopping the spread of COVID-19 throughout the commonwealth, as many Pennsylvanians have taken responsibility for their own health and the health of their communities by getting vaccinated,” Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement. “This week, we are reporting less than a thousand confirmed cases, another consecutive week of decreased statewide positivity and achieving 75 percent of Pennsylvanians receiving at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine."

Indeed, the state saw just 995 new cases over the past week, according to the most recently available statistics from the Department of Health. That's down from 1,384 the week prior, or a 389 overall case decrease.

The improvements come as the state lifted their mask mandate on Monday after 14 months.

For the second straight week, no counties are in the substantial transmission category. A total of 55 are in the low level, and 12 are in the moderate level. Here's a glance at the full breakdown:

Low

Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Butler, Cameron, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Erie, Forest, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, McKean, Mercer, Mifflin, Montgomery, Montour, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Venango, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland, and Wyoming

Moderate

Bradford, Cambria, Crawford, Fayette, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Lycoming, Monroe, Philadelphia, Pike, Potter, and York

Substantial

None