Coronavirus Cases Dropping In Philly, But Deaths Persist

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia's fight against the coronavirus is ongoing and results are good.

Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley Tuesday delivered positive news, saying case counts and testing rates have decreased.

According to Farley, the week ending May 1 had an average of 384 cases per day and a 5 percent positivity rate.

Those are both down from the previous week, which had a 478 average daily case count and 6.1 percent positivity rate.

Farley reported 358 new cases Tuesday, bringing Philly's number of confirmed cases to 139,840.

While these numbers have lowered, Farley said coronavirus-related deaths are relatively high.

He said he expects to see about 50 deaths weekly for the next few weeks before deaths subside.

The city saw a low of 23 deaths per week the week of March 21. However, that figure went up to 60 the week of April 11.

Additionally, city hospitals are treating 429 patients with the virus, and 64 of them are on ventilators.

As for vaccines in the city, they are more widely available than ever now.

Data shows 778,819 people have feel have received at elast one or more dose of the vaccine in Philadelphia and 524,589 have been fully vaccinated. CDC data shows 36 percent of Philadelphians 18 and older have been fully vaccinated and 59 percent of people 65 and older have been fully vaccinated.

Farley said 282 locations in the city are getting vaccines for administration.

Beginning Wednesday both the Center City Vaccination Center and Esperanza Community Vaccination Center will be administering second doses of the Pfizer vaccine to everyone that had been vaccinated at those sites in the last three weeks, and both sites’ last day will be Tuesday, May 25.

Planned changes at both sites are as follows:

Center City Vaccination Center

• Second-dose Pfizer vaccine will be available beginning Wednesday
• Single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be available beginning Tuesday, May 11
• This clinic will close on Tuesday, May 25

Esperanza Community Vaccination Center

• Second-dose Pfizer vaccine will be available beginning Wednesday
• First-dose Pfizer vaccine will continue to be offered; those who need second doses will be given them via community vaccination sites
• This clinic will close on Tuesday, May 25