As Montco Coronavirus Numbers Decrease, 'Very Real Risk' Remains

NORRISTOWN, PA — Montgomery County has seen a slight rise in hospital admissions over recent days, which, coupled with the latest testing data, reflects the continued need for residents to be wary of the virus, officials said.

About 260 individuals are currently hospitalized in Montgomery County with coronavirus, Montgomery County Commissioner Val Arkoosh said on Wednesday. That's a minor rise from the roughly 250 patients who were hospitalized as of several days ago, a number that held steady or lower for some time.

About 24 percent of those patients require the use of a ventilator. The exact number is 59, according to state tracking data.

While numbers continue to trend downward in the county, the data points to a need for the county to continue to be cautious.

"There is still very real risk of virus transmission in our community," Arkoosh said. "Please continue to stay home as much as possible."

>>Latest Coronavirus Numbers In Montgomery Co.: Death Toll At 529

Montgomery County has 101 available adult ICU beds, and 249 available ventilators, according to the state.

Arkoosh also cited a second piece of data which she said supported this contention: the rate of positive tests received back from the Montgomery County Community College testing site.

While the overall rate has remained steady at around 14 percent — 793 of 5,707 tests have been positive since the site launched — numbers over a recent four-day period were higher. From May 15 to May 19, results came back at a 15 to 19 percent rate.

Overall, the county decreased its 14 day average daily case counts from 116 cases on May 7 to 99 cases on May 20. However, to move to the yellow phase of Gov. Wolf's reopening plan, the county as a whole needs to be at a rate of 30 per day. That number is calculated using the 50 per day per 100,000 residents recommendation from the state — and Montgomery County has about 800,000 residents.

Some nearby counties are pushing to reopen, despite not hitting their target number of new cases to move to the yellow phase. On Wednesday, health officials in Bucks County said they wereready to move to yellow, despite recording roughly twice the number of their goal new daily cases.

And in Chester County, state legislators are petitioning Gov. Wolf to move the county to yellow immediately and to separate the county from Montgomery, Bucks, Delaware, Philadelphia, and others in the southeastern bloc, due to their comparatively low totals.

Montgomery County continues to record significantly higher numbers than both Bucks and Chester. Overall, the county has seen 6,126 cases and 548 deaths from coronavirus as of Thursday morning.