Steady April COVID-19 Positivity Drop In Chesco: Monthly Update

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — As more and more Chester County residents are getting vaccinated, new cases of COVID-19 dropped by 189 over the last seven days, and the positivity rate has fallen about one percentage point over each week in April, according to the state Department of Health report today.

In the week ended April 22, there had been 791 new COVID-19 cases and in the week ended April 29, the DOH reported 602 new cases in Chester County. Cases tracked through April has looked like this: In the week ended April 1, there had been 978 new cases, and on April 8, 893, then on April 15, 922 new cases, on April 23, 779, and on April 29, 602.

Other metrics also fell over the last week. Incidence rate dropped from 150.7 per 100,000 residents last week to 114.7 per 100,000. This is a third consecutive week of falling COVID-19 incidence in Chester County. On April 15, the incidence rate per 100,00 residents was 175.6 and on April 22 it was 150.7 after all reporting came into the state DOH. For the week ended April 29, it was down to 114.7 per 100,000 residents.

The positivity rate fell a full percentage point over the last seven days, from 7.2 to 6.2 percent.

In fact, the percent positivity has dropped approximately one percentage point in every seven-day tracking period across April. The trend in positivity rate looks like this over the last month: On April 1 it was 9.1 percent, on April 8, it was 8.0 percent, in the week ending April 15 it was 8.7 percent, on April 22 it was reported at 7.2 percent, and on April 29 it was 6.2 percent, according to the PA Department of Health.

Average daily hospitalization remained nearly the same over the last week, measured at 71.9 for the week ended April 29 after having been at 71.4 the week before. That metric represents a slow improvement: Hospitalizations for COVID-19 were reported at an average of 73.6 for the week ended April 15 and 67 on April 8, after there had been 47.6 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the week ended April 1.

Slightly fewer patients were on ventilators from last week to this week. In the week ended April 29, 2.6 patients on average were reported on ventilators due to COVID-19 in Chester County. Last week, ending April 22, 2.9 patients on average were on ventilators here. In the week ended April 15, there were 8.6 COVID-19 patients on ventilators, and there were 7.3 in the week ended April 8, the health department reported.

The Chester County Health Department reported today that 65 percent of residents here have had at least one dose of a vaccine. Today's report from the state DOH said 145,826 people in Chester County are fully vaccinated and 132,617 are partially vaccinated.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, 35,402 have tested positive for COVID-19 in Chester County, according to the Chester County Health Department. In that time 769 have died here.

Since the pandemic began, across Pennsylvania, there have been 1,151,005 cases of COVID-19 reported. The state Department of Health reported today 26,218 have died in Pennsylvania of COVID-19.

Vaccination Clinic Updates

Chester County announced this week two new COVID-19 vaccination sites would open and they will begin taking walk-ins, with no appointment needed, this Saturday and Sunday.

The Exton Square Mall's former Sears store and the Longwood Gardens overflow parking area are serving as COVID-19 vaccine walk-in clinics on Saturday and Sunday, May 1 and 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Exton Square Mall clinic will be administering the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and the Pfizer vaccine, the health department said.

The Longwood Gardens overflow parking lit clinic, which will be a drive-thru, will administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and the Moderna vaccine.

An appointment is not necessary, but residents who prefer to schedule an appointment can do that here.

Combined, these two sites will have the capacity to administer 2,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine per day, the county health department said.

Make sure you know what's happening in your town. Sign up to get Patch emails and don't miss any local news: https://patch.com/subscribe.