Cases, Positivity Rate Drop In Montco For First Time In Weeks

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, PA — After weeks of steady rises, the fourth wave of coronavirus in Montgomery County may finally be retreating.

Several of the key metrics tracked by the Pennsylvania Department of Health showed improvements in the county over the most recently studied seven-day period, covering April 16 to April 22.

Specifically, the total number of cases over the one-week period has decreased from 1,539 to 1,319, and the percent positivity rate on tests has dropped from 8.7 percent back down to 8.1 percent.

The turnaround was concurrent with a statewide trend.

“This week we saw a decrease in reported cases and a lower statewide percent positivity – which is encouraging news,” Gov. Wolf said in a statement Monday.

The statewide percent positivity rate is down to 8.6 percent.

Montgomery County's cases are still up notably from early March, when the rate was down to 4.8 percent, and weekly cases were at 900. But it's a step in the right direction after most of March and April have seen the fourth wave grip much of the state and many other parts of the nation.

The surge has occurred despite the increasing vaccination rate, with officials pointing both to "pandemic fatigue" leading to reduced precautions, as well as the presence of more contagious variants of the virus, as reasons for the increases.

A third key metric tracked by the state, the incidence rate per 100,000 residents also dropped from 186 to 158.

However, healthcare metrics remain elevated in the county. The average number of hospitalizations due to the virus rose from 209 to 226, while average daily number of patients on ventilators climbed from 11 to 19. The percentage of emergency room visits due to COVID-19 symptoms dropped slightly from 1 percent back down to 0.8 percent.