Delco Has 'Moderate' Risk Of Community Coronavirus Transmission

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA — The Pennsylvania Department of Health is providing details on the likelihood of getting coronavirus through community transmission by county. Those details are informing how the Department of Education is advising schools to handle instruction for the 2020-2021 school year.

According to the health department, the risk of community transmission of the coronavirus in Delaware County is "moderate" as of Aug. 7.

"Moderate" designation means the county has anywhere from 10 to less than 100 new cases per 100,000 residents over seven days or a 5 to 10 percent positivity rate over seven days.

According to the health department, Delaware County has a 5.2 percent positive testing rate as of Aug. 7. That's down from 6.5 the week before.

The incidence of new cases among 100,000 people over a week's time is 78.6, per the health department. In the previous week, that figure was 91.4

To achieve "low" risk, counties must have fewer than 10 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days and less than 5 percent positivity rate over seven days.

"Substantial" risk is denoted when a county has greater than 10 new cases per 100,000 people over seven days or a more than 10 percent positivity rate over seven days.

As of Tuesday, Delaware County has had 9,392 cases of coronavirus and 746 coronavirus-related deaths.

Counties such as Delaware that have a moderate risk of community transmission are recommended to have schools operate with blended or fully remote learning models. Low risk counties are recommended to operate on blended or fully in-person models, while substantial risk counties should have fully virtual learning models.

"While a county’s corresponding threshold may change week by week, DOH and PDE recommend that schools consider changing instructional models only after observing two consecutive weeks of the same designation," the departments said in a joint statement. "For example, a school offering a blended/hybrid model in a county identified as 'moderate' might consider transitioning to a fully in-person model if the county moves to 'low' for two consecutive weeks."

All other Philadelphia area counties — Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Philadelphia — are listed as having moderate risk of community transmission.

As of Tuesday, Union County is the only county listed as having substantial community transmission risk.