Montgomery County officials announced on Thursday that two Hatfield Township residents are among the nearly 100 new positive cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
According to updated data released by Montgomery County officials on Thursday afternoon, a total of 94 new positive tests for the COVID-19 coronavirus have been reported since Wednesday, bringing the current county-wide total to 313. Hardest hit areas continue to be Lower Merion Township with 60 cases, Lower Providence with 25 cases and Cheltenham Township with 25 cases.
In the North Penn area, there are a total of 15 positive cases—six new positives since yesterday—being reported, with five in Montgomery Township, three in Towamencin Township, four in Upper Gwynedd Township, one in Lansdale Borough and two in Hatfield Township.
At this point, the only municipalities in the North Penn area without a positive case are North Wales Borough and Hatfield Borough.
In the neighboring communities, positive cases are as follows:
In total, 310 of the county-wide cases remain active, and three deaths—a 72-year-old male and an 84-year-old male, both of Abington Township, as well as a 62-year-old male from Whitemarsh Township—have been reported.
Montgomery County Commissioner Valerie Arkoosh reiterated that the increase in positives was anticipated, in part due to increased access to testing and the initial return of test results from the community testing site in Upper Dublin Township.
Earlier on Thursday, Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Rachel Levine said that as of 12:01 a.m., Pennsylvania had seen an increase of 560 new positive cases—twice the amount reported on Wednesday—bringing the statewide total to 1,687 positive cases across 48 counties in the commonwealth.
“This demonstrates the exponential rise that we have been discussing,” Levine said.
Levine said that since March 6, roughly 10-percent of positive cases in Pennsylvania required hospitalization, with 56 patients requiring treatment in an intensive care unit and 32 requiring ventilators. Approximately 46-percent of cases involved residents over the age of 50, and 39-percent of cases involve residents between the ages of 25 and 49, Levine said.
To date, 16 Pennsylvania residents have died due to the coronavirus.
“We’re just seeing the beginning of this crisis, and we do not know how bad the surge will be or when this pandemic will end,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “We must prepare ourselves mentally and physically to be in this for the long haul. We’re not fighting a battle here; we’re fighting a war.”
Community Testing Site Relaxes Criteria for Testing
For residents seeking testing for the COVID-19 coronavirus, the criteria for testing has been adjusted. They will now test the following:
Testing will be performed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, and can be scheduled via appointment only. Appointments can be made online by clicking here or via phone by calling 610-631-3000. Individuals who do not meet the criteria will be turned away, and the location is for drive-through testing only and will not include treatment of any kind, according to officials.
See also:
Lansdale Borough Sees First Positive COVID-19 Case, North Penn Area At Nine Total Cases
Montco Continues To See Increase In COVID-19 Cases, No New Positives Reported In North Penn Area
Towamencin, Upper Gwynedd See First Positive Cases Of Covid-19, County Increases To 136 Positives
First COVID-19 Death Reported In Montco, Spread Continues In Neighboring Communities
Whitpain Township Man Hospitalized With COVID-19, County Positives Increase To 68
