The 5 PA Counties With Highest COVID Transmission

PENNSYLVANIA — Just five counties remain in the most serious "substantial" level of coronavirus transmission in Pennsylvania, as the state's COVID-19 numbers have experienced a rapid turnaround in the past several weeks.

The bulk of the state's counties — 58 — are now in the moderate transmission category. Four are in the lowest level. The transmission levels were originally developed by the Department of Health to make recommendations on instructional models for schools during the pandemic.

“We still have more work to do, but we are proud of the progress," Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement this week. "For each resident vaccinated, we inch closer and closer towards achieving herd immunity, protecting our loved ones and making our communities safer."

A total of 28 of these counties have a percent positivity rate below the 5 percent mark, while there are no longer any counties in the entire state over 20 percent.

Here's a glance at where counties around the state stand, as of Tuesday:

Low

Cameron, Forest, Montour, Sullivan

Moderate

Adams, Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Berks, Blair, Bucks, Butler, Cambria, Carbon, Centre, Chester, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia, Crawford, Cumberland, Dauphin, Delaware, Elk, Erie, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Juniata, Lackawanna, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lebanon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Lycoming, Mercer, Mifflin, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Perry, Philadelphia, Pike, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset, Susquehanna, Tioga, Union, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Westmoreland, York

Substantial

Bradford, McKean, Potter, Venango, Wyoming

The continually increasing vaccination rate has led to improved numbers across the board. The statewide positivity rate has finally dropped below the oft-cited 5 percent threshold, indicating "suppression" of the virus. The state is now at 4.5 percent, down from 5.3 percent last week. It's the lowest mark the state has seen in months.

Case numbers have also drastically decreased for yet another week: dropping from 9,953 to 6,950 over the most recently tracked seven-day period, covering May 14 to May 20.

Healthcare metrics have similarly improved, with the average daily number of hospitalizations due to coronavirus falling over the past week from 1,758 to 1,406. The average daily number of patients on ventilators also fell from 239 to 212.