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READING, Pennsylvania – For the second week in a row, Berks County commissioners have been updated on COVID-19 data, which reveals the number of cases is heading in the wrong direction.
Brian Gottschall, county emergency services director and head of the Berks County COVID-19 leadership team, reiterated the concerns he raised last week in his weekly report to commissioners.
“We are seeing that all indicators are trending upwards, and we are now seeing hospitalizations accelerating on the [state’s] early warning dashboard, ”Gottschall said. We have continued to see upward trends over the past few weeks, and we are now at a similar point to where we were last November, when we started moving forward. [in case counts]. “
Although the death toll in Berks County has remained stable, Gottschall said it was the last indicator delayed after hospitalizations.
“As the cases increase, a few weeks later the deaths increase,” he said. “There are people in our community who are not able to resist well.”
Gottschall noted that hospitalizations started to increase slowly about three weeks ago.
St. Joseph’s Medical Center reported on Wednesday that it is treating 16 patients with COVID-19. Four of them were in the intensive care unit and three were on a ventilator.
The latest Reading Hospital report on Tuesday showed it was treating 64 hospital patients with COVID-19. Nine of them were in intensive care.
The Berks County coroner reported two more deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of people with COVID-19 who have died in Berks to 861. Twenty-six additional deaths are still listed as probable.
Gottschall also reported that first test positivity rates have now reached a level of around 40%, having dropped to around 20% in mid-winter.
Gottschall warned that mitigation efforts must remain in place.
“The mistakes that we make today, we pay for them for several weeks after making them,” he said. “As a community, we can try to do a better job of straightening the curve. The opportunity is there for us to work together and do the right things.”
Regarding COVID-19 vaccinations, Gottschall said the state reported that 46,367 residents had been partially vaccinated and 48,583 were fully vaccinated.
Commissioner Kevin S. Barnhardt said Co County Wellness – the agency responsible for the county’s contract tracing efforts – reported a record number last week, with 645 new contacts.
Barnhardt said many of the new contacts are from educational institutions.
He also urged residents of the county to sign up for the county newsletter by visiting the county’s COVID-19 website to receive updates on information on COVID-19 and vaccine distributions in County of. Berks.
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