Delaware County Seeing Coronavirus Case Surge, Data Shows

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — After seeing a steep decline in new daily coronavirus cases in May and June, Delaware County is seeing a surge, according to state data.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health Tuesday said Delaware County is one of several counties that are seeing increased daily case counts.

In addition, state health officials last week reported the county's positive rate is greater than 5 percent.

The most recent data shared Tuesday by the Pennsylvania Department on Health shows Delaware County had an overnight increase of 118 cases. Data shows the county's positive rate is 5.3 percent. State officials said positivity rates in Delaware County and 13 others, including neighboring Philadelphia and Chester, are "concerning."

Delaware County now has seen 8,489 cases and 683 deaths to date. Of the 683 deaths, 583 have been nursing home or long term care facility residents. Nursing home and long term care facility residents account for 2,100 of all Delaware County cases, as well.

Additionally, 56,280 tests in Delaware County have come back negative to date.

As of Tuesday, Pennsylvania overall has 109,384 cases, after 1,120 more cases were identified recently. Statewide, 7,146 have died from the virus.

Last week, Delaware County officials said about 40 percent of new cases were in younger people, and state officials reinforced that Tuesday.

The Southeastern Pennsylvania region overall has jump from nearly 5 percent of cases being in people 19 to 24 years old back in April to 17 percent in July.

County officials said the increase in young people testing positive comes from visiting New Jersey beaches, attending July 4 barbecues, and socializing without masks.