During two week surge, Wilkes-Barre becomes Luzerne County’s COVID hot spot

In the two week surge of COVID-19 this month, Wilkes-Barre’s 18702 ZIP code has been Luzerne County’s hot spot, with 75 new cases reported from Oct. 2 through Friday, according to state data. Hazleton’s 18201 code is a distant second with 44 new cases, but unlike past weeks, few of the 41 codes all or partially in Luzerne County were untouched by the virus.

Six codes reported no new cases: 17878 (Stillwater), 18219 (Conyngham), 18225 (Harleigh), 18246 (Rock Glen), 18622 (Huntington Mills), 18636 (Noxen, most of which is in Wyoming County) and 18642 (Duryea). It’s important to note a code often, though not always, covers more area than the municipal name it is given. Most of those codes are small in area and/or rural.

Thirteen codes reported new cases in the double digits, with six of those having 30 or more cases in the two weeks analyzed.

The Bloomsburg code of 17815 had the third highest number of cases, 39, but that code is overwhelmingly in Columbia County and most if not all of those cases likely were not in Luzerne County. Wilkes-Barre’s 18706 code had the fourth largest increase at 34, and the Kingston code of 18704 was right behind with 33.

The Dallas code of 18612, which went for months with few new cases, continued a trend of rising numbers begun in September, posting 30 new cases in the last two weeks. That code is home to Misericordia University, which has seen an increase in students placed under isolation or quarantine, to 91 according to the website data for Oct. 5-11. That does not mean all those students tested positive. Since July 1, the university reports 28 cases among students, and 20 of those were commuter students.

The Mountain Top code of 18707 has also gone from seeing few cases in the summer to 24 cases in the last two weeks. Another Wilkes-Barre code (there are four with that municipal label), 18705, had 23 new cases in the last two weeks.

As of Friday, the number of new cases each day countywide has ranged from 25 to 54 since Oct. 7. In the two week period reviewed for this article, the county has seen 437 new cases, according to state data.