New Bucks Co. COVID Cases Dip To Lowest In Months: Latest Data

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County averaged fewer than 200 new coronavirus cases per day last week — the first time the county's case numbers have been that low since early November.

The county's numbers of COVID-related deaths and hospitalizations also dipped to their lowest levels since last year, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

From Jan. 31-Feb. 6, Bucks County had 1,404 new coronavirus infections reported. That's down a whopping 35 percent from the prior week, when officials said a downward trend was reversed by a dump of backlogged test results from weeks earlier.

Last week's total amounted to a seven-day average of 197 cases per day.

Bucks County Out Of COVID Red Zone: White House Task Force

Tuesday morning, Bucks County had reported 41,767 coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. That total more than doubled in the past two months, as a fall surge in cases spiked repeatedly after the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's holidays.

Also last week, the county reported 19 more deaths attributed to COVID-19. That was Bucks County's fewest weekly deaths reported since the first week of December, but brought the county's total for the pandemic to 1,056. (That number had increased to 1,060 by Tuesday morning, according to the state health department).

With 119 deaths, January was the pandemic's fourth-deadliest month in Bucks County.

COVID hospitalizations in the county also declined last week, which ended with 96 patients hospitalized with the virus. Of those, 26 were in intensive care and 12 were on ventilators, according to state numbers.

Thirty percent of the county's adult ICU beds were available at week's end, along with 27 percent of adult medical surgical beds.

Bucks County's test positivity rate inched up, however, but just slightly — from 10.4 percent to 10.6 percent.

Meanwhile, Bucks County continued vaccinating residents despite what local officials called a "still-meager" supply of vaccine.

In Bucks, 8,543 total doses of vaccine were administered last week. Of those, 5,633 were first injections and 2,910 were the second dose of the two-dose vaccine. Of those, 1,633 were administered at an appointment-only clinic run by the Bucks County Health Department for EMS and other healthcare workers.

The clinic was limited to only three days last week due to snow closings.

In all, 31,869 people had been partially vaccinated in Bucks County through Saturday. That is the fourth-highest county total in Pennsylvania. Another 11,153 people have been fully vaccinated with two shots, the fifth-highest county total.

The state Department of Health reported that 12,050 doses of vaccine were sent to Bucks County last week. Since the vaccine became available, 75,600 doses have been sent to Bucks and, of those, 54,175 are reported to have been administered, according to state data.

Bucks County COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout: Updates

A week-by-week spreadsheet of facilities in Bucks County and across Pennsylvania that have received the vaccine can be found here. The largest amount of vaccine sent to Bucks County has gone to its hospitals and the county health department.

Statewide, more than 725,000 people have received partial vaccinations and more than 286,000 have received full vaccinations in counties other than Philadelphia. Philadelphia has its own reporting system.

Pennsylvania remains in the 1A phase of its vaccine rollout. That makes shots available to healthcare workers, nursing home residents and staff, people 65 and older and anyone 16 or older with a serious medical condition.

Click Here To Register For A COVID-19 Vaccination In Bucks County

About 200,000 Bucks County residents already have registered to receive a vaccination from the county health department. Area hospitals and pharmacies also are ramping up plans for public vaccine clinics.

The Bucks County Board of Commissioners continues to urge the public to download a free COVID Alert PA app, which uses Bluetooth technology to let a person know that they have been exposed to COVID-19 without compromising the identity or location of either the person using the app, or of the person to whom they may have been exposed.

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