Luzerne County coronavirus positivity rate jumps to 16.4%

Luzerne County’s positivity rate — the percentage of diagnostic tests with positive results — jumped again this week to a new 16.4%, according to the state’s weekly statistics update Friday.

The county’s rate was 13.8% two weeks ago (Nov. 20 to 26) and has been incrementally rising.

In comparison, the county’s rate was 1.5% when the state launched the weekly early warning dashboard the end of June.

Luzerne County is not alone.

Every county in the state now has a positivity rate above 5%, which the state deems “concerning,” Friday’s update shows.

Nine counties had rates from 20% to 29.7%, with Mifflin County at that highest percentage. The eight other counties in this range: Bedford, Franklin, Juniata, Lawrence, Montour, Potter, Somerset and Tioga.

Statewide, the positivity rate was 14.4% this week, compared to 11.7% two weeks ago. For perspective, the state’s rate was 4% when the dashboard went live the end of June.

County cases

Luzerne County added 1,326 new confirmed COVID-19 cases this week — an increase of 110 from the previous week’s 1,216 new cases, according to the dashboard posted at www.health.pa.gov.

As a result, the county’s incidence rate, or number of cases per 100,000 residents, rose from 382.8 two weeks ago to 417.4 this week.

The number of county residents hospitalized for coronavirus decreased slightly this week but remained above the 100-mark milestone reached two weeks ago.

On average, 105.9 county residents were hospitalized for COVID-19 this week through Thursday, a decrease of 0.8 from the prior week’s 106.7.

Fewer hospitalized county residents required ventilators this week — an average daily 7.7 compared to 12.4 two weeks ago, it said.

Based on the latest numbers, county school districts will remain in the highest classification of “substantial” community transmission in which remote-only learning is recommended by the state.

The substantial level is reached when the incidence rate is 100 or above or the positivity rate is 10% or higher — benchmarks both currently exceeded in the county.

Based on data from two weeks ago, all but one of the 67 counties — Cameron — were in the substantial level last week, a state release said.

Cameron was in the “low” spread ranking because it had both fewer than 10 cases per 100,000 residents over a seven-day period and a positivity rate below 5%, the state said. Districts in counties ranked as “low” transmission should consider full in-person instruction or a blended system, with some students in school while others learn remotely at home, the state said.

There is also an in-between “moderate virus spread ranking discouraging full in-person instruction.

The state’s early warning update also includes a fifth benchmark — the percentage of hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses — which decreased from 0.9% to 0.5% in the county over the two weeks.

Another rash of confirmed county coronavirus deaths — 53 since Nov. 25, or the day before Thanksgiving — prompted county Manager C. David Pedri to issue another plea Thursday for residents to reflect on the losses and heed prevention precautions.

The latest victims bring the county’s November coronavirus death count to 106, with another 11 deaths so far in December.

There were 23 deaths in October, one in September and four in August.

Statewide numbers

Pennsylvania experienced an increase in all five virus-tracking benchmarks, the latest update said.

There were 48,668 additional cases statewide this week, or 5,955 more than the prior week’s 42,713 new cases.

With that increase, the statewide cases per 100,000 rose from 333.5 to 380.

Other statewide benchmark updates:

• Average daily hospitalizations rose from 3,745.7 to 4,759.4.

• The daily average number of patients on ventilators jumped from 410.9 to 530.1.

• The percentage of hospital visits due to coronavirus-like illnesses increased from 1.6% to 1.7%.

State Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said earlier this week the increases in hospitalizations and ventilator use should prompt everyone to follow prevention precautions and take a “role in protecting our health care system.”

“Latest models continue to indicate very concerning trends for our hospital availability and ICU bed availability,” Levine said. “We know COVID-19 does not discriminate and is affecting every county in the commonwealth. It is affecting all Pennsylvanians, no matter your race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status or whether you live a rural, suburban or urban area.”