The number of deaths due to COVID-19 remain alarmingly high in Delaware County, Pennsylvania and across the nation.
But there’s a dip in case numbers and hospitalizations that might foreshadow, finally, a waning of the second omicron surge, though such dips have happened before in the 10-month episode.
For example, 11 county residents died in the past week as a direct result of COVID or with COVID as a contributing factor, for a total of 2,052 since the disease infiltrated the region nearly three years ago. The weekly total was the second highest in the past 10 months.
In Pennsylvania, there were a total of 236 deaths — also second highest in the past 10 months — with the third highest weekly total occurring last month. The statewide death count in less than three years is 49,633, rapidly approaching the 50,000 plateau, quite likely in February.
And nationally, there was a total of 3,756 deaths in the past week, a top-10 weekly finish of the past 10 months, and it came on the heels of the highest and second-highest totals in that time.
The initial omicron surge subsided in mid-February and the second surge, based on offshoots of the original omicron, began about a month or so later, and continues, as the numbers show.
The death counts are based on residency, not where someone dies. Neither the Delaware County Health Department nor medical examiner’s office provide details about cases, hospitalizations or deaths within the county. It’s unclear what percentage of Delaware County residents died in the county.
Delaware County and the rest of the greater Philadelphia corner of Pennsylvania remains at moderate risk for COVID. That has been unchanged for nearly a year, since the region dropped out of the high-risk designation. Much of Pennsylvania is listed as low risk.
More weekly COVID statistics from the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
• 459 reported new cases in Delaware County, a significant downturn.
• 10,490 reported new cases statewide in the past week, down slightly.
• 67.7 and 63.8, new case rates per 100,000 for the county and the state, respectively, both down moderately.
• 13.0% and 13.0%, positivity rates in the county and the state, respectively, slightly lower from the previous week.
• 32 hospitalized with COVID in the county, also down slightly from the previous week.
• 13.6 admitted to hospitals per 100,000 population over the week in the county, which translates to about 79 new patients weekly. That number has changed very little over the past six months.
• 1,258 hospitalized with COVID in the state, also a one-day snapshot, down moderately from the previous week and a sizeable fall from the second-omicron surge record of 1,531 set just five weeks ago. However, it’s unclear how many hospitalized moved into the death column and how many recovered.
• 1,441 more county residents “fully vaccinated” for a total of 439,124 over the entire two-year episode of inoculation opportunities.
• 1,722 more county residents receiving the bivalent boosters for a total of 104,910.
• The former weekly number was up sharply and the latter was down slightly. In the past week, national health authorities said they favor a once-a-year shot similar to the flu shot.
• In variant land, the XBB 1.5 makes up about 60% of the cases. It would be the fourth generation of mutants since the original omicron.
• 42,163, daily case average nationally in the past week. A drop of 10% in a week.
• The second omicron surge peaked nationally at a daily average of 129,889 on July 16. The low week of 2022 was in late March with a daily case average of 27,465. The low point after the pandemic got rolling in spring 2020 was 11,745 in June 2021.
