As PA Cases Surge, Montco Coronavirus Metrics Among Best In State
NORRISTOWN, PA — Pennsylvania, like much of the nation, is seeing a resurgence this fall in COVID-19 cases. Montgomery County, a stronghold of the virus in the beginning of the pandemic and the first county in the state to fully shut down, is not experiencing quite the same increase as elsewhere in Pennsylvania.
The county is far from completely immune. In fact, the overall number of cases in Montgomery County has increased the past few weeks. There were 339 cases reported over the past seven days, officials said Monday. That's up from 276, 266, and 287 over each of the previous three weeks, respectively.
“Like many other parts of the Commonwealth, Montgomery County continues to see an increase in confirmed positive COVID-19 cases," Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh acknowledged Monday. She attributed the increase partially to increased testing, and also partially to the expected increase in transmission with the onset of cooler weather.
But looking deeper at how the county's metrics compare to the state, Montgomery has seen widespread success in suppression where other counties have not.
Specifically, one of the metrics most often cited by health officials, the percent positivity rating on all coronavirus tests, remains very low in Montgomery County. While cases in the county are increasing, this percentage has held steady at about 2.28 percent for more than a month now.
That's easily the lowest rating in southeastern Pennsylvania, and is bettered statewide by only a small handful of remote counties with much smaller populations. Nearby, Chester County is at 3.2 percent and Bucks is at 3.1 percent, while Delaware is 4.1 and Philadelphia is 4.5.
Statewide, that rating is 4.3 percent.
So what is Montgomery County doing differently?
One answer might be something that Arkoosh mentioned as a reason for the increased overall number of cases: an increase in testing.
Since Montgomery County launched a new partnership with Mako Labs in North Carolina, test results have been returned speedily, within 36 hours and almost always less than that. The county has also expanded its testing capacity at its community sites, first increasing to 50 tests per day at all six sites over the summer. Just last week, they announced another expansion to 75 per day at four of the busiest sites: Lansdale, Willow Grove, Ardmore, and Norristown. That means the daily capacity countywide is now up to 400.
"The more we're able to test our community, whether you have symptoms or not, the more we'll know what is happening across the county, and be able to quickly suppress any outbreaks," Arkoosh said.
Increased testing gives health officials access to more data about how and where the virus is spreading. It also allows contact tracers to do their jobs and help ensure possibly exposed individuals do not further spread the virus in the community.
Wednesday marked the 16th straight day that Pennsylvania reported more than 1,000 new cases of the coronavirus. The state has averaged 1,238 new cases over the past week, a seven-percent increase after a 16-percent jump the week before.
"The fall resurgence is here," Gov. Tom Wolf said at a news conference Monday, where he encouraged residents to renew efforts to wear masks, maintain social distancing and practice sanitation measures that have proven effective in slowing the virus.
In Pennsylvania, college-age students no longer are the main cause of the rising numbers, said Pennsylvania Department of Health Director Dr. Rachel Levine. Now, the spikes also are being seen among people in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Montgomery County has continued to see a decrease in its fatality rate as well. There's been one death over the past week due to coronavirus, and eight over the past month.
This article originally appeared on the Norristown Patch
