PA Sees Nearly Two-Point Drop In COVID-19 Positivity Rate

PENNSYLVANIA — The post-holiday surge seen in early January COVID-19 cases in Pennsylvania seems to have abated, as the percent positivity rate on all tests has dropped by nearly two points.

The rate now sits at 12.7 percent, after falling from 14.5 percent in the most recent data available from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, covering the seven-day period from Jan. 8 to Jan. 14.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said that the development was a sign of "great progress" in the ongoing battle against the virus, as the state works to vaccinate tens of thousands of healthcare workers statewide.

“I believe we can continue these best public health practices to continue to bring the transmission of COVID-19 down in our communities and keep each other safe as we continue the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine," Wolf said in a statement Tuesday.

Despite the 1.8 point statewide decrease, every county across Pennsylvania remains above the 5 percent threshold for a "concerning" positivity rate.

Every other key coronavirus metric tracked by the state's Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard fell over the most recently tracked seven-day period.

That included a decrease in number of new cases reported, dropping from 43,921 to 40,088. While still high, that's almost identical to the number of weekly cases reported in the state in early January before the post-holiday surge was factored in. The incidence rate per 100,000 residents also fell from 343 to 313.

Meanwhile, all three healthcare metrics tracked by the state showed improvement. The percentage of emergency room visits due to coronavirus symptoms dropped below 1 percent, to 0.9 percent. And the average daily number of patients on ventilators fell from 657 to 632.

The hospitalization rate does remain high, and officials issued another reminder that healthcare systems continue to be at capacity. But the number of statewide hospitalizations due to the virus fell from 5,532 to 5,154 last week.

Thus far, 340,947 Pennsylvanians have received partial vaccinations, while 68,491 more have received full doses.