Westmoreland: Third week in 'substantial' category for covid-19 transmission

For the third consecutive week, Westmoreland County remains in the “substantial” level of community transmission for coronavirus cases, even though the number of actual cases decreased from Oct. 23 to 29, the Department of Health said Friday.

The county had 114.9 coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents for the seven-day reporting period that ended Thursday. That remained above the 100 cases per 100,000 threshold that the state has deemed as a substantial rate of transmission.

The transmission rate was 124.1 per 100,000 residents from Oct. 16 to 22, the health department said. The incidence rate is based on the number of covid-19 cases per 100,000 residents during the past seven days.

The state saw a 7% decline in the number of coronavirus cases in Westmoreland County in the past week, falling to 403 cases compared to 435 in the previous week.

The daily average of covid-19 cases requiring hospitalization remained at 44.6, about the same number as the previous week. The percentage of emergency department visits due to covid-19 illness remained at about 1% the past two weeks, the state found.

The average number of patients who were on ventilators increased from about five to six, the state found.

The positivity rate for a specific covid-19 test to dropped to 7.2% in the most recent week, compared to 8.4% rate the previous week, the state said.

As of Friday, the county had 3,864 confirmed cases of covid-19, another 538 probable cases. The deaths have hit 101, according to the health department.

There have been 5,902 cases where people tested negative for the coronavirus.

With the county remaining in the substantial rate for community transmission of covid-19, the state Education Department advised that schools in counties with that level of transmission should instruct its students through remote learning.

Several school districts in the county are moving to virtual learning, while others are in a hybrid phase of partly in-school and part remote learning. Some districts anticipate making a decision in November on whether to continue remote or give students the option of returning to class.