An average daily 30.1 Luzerne County residents were hospitalized for the coronavirus this week — a marked increase from last week’s 18.1, the state’s new weekly early warning dashboard released Friday shows.
For comparison, the county’s average daily hospitalizations were 3.3 in the week ending July 22 and a significantly higher 130.6 in mid-January.
Most people who are hospitalized or died from COVID-19 are unvaccinated, the state health department has said, pointing to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, report that 97% of those hospitalized and 99% of deaths involve the unvaccinated.
As of Friday, 162,941 county residents were fully vaccinated, or 57.44% of the 283,657 population estimated to be eligible.
Coronavirus vaccines are only available to those over age 11 at this time.
Luzerne County continues to rank 11th among Pennsylvania counties for its percentage of eligible residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the state’s online vaccine dashboard updated Friday shows.
There are 67 counties in the state, although Philadelphia is not part of the state statistics.
Montour County retained its position at the top among counties, with 71.7% of eligible residents vaccinated.
The other counties with higher rates: Forest, 66.6%; Lehigh, 66.4%; Chester, 64.9%; Lackawanna, 64.4%; Allegheny, 64.1%; Northampton, 61.8%; Montgomery, 59.1%; Butler, 58.1%; and Delaware, 58%.
Lackawanna has 120,301 residents fully vaccinated. The rates of the other counties bordering Luzerne, including their count of fully vaccinated residents: Carbon, 54.7%, 31,652; Wyoming, 54.2%, 13,072; Schuylkill, 54.1%, 68,709; Columbia, 54%, 31,879; Monroe, 50.9%, 78,334; and Sullivan, 46.9%, 2,689.
Rising cases
There were 465 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the county this week ending Thursday, or 87 more than last week’s 378 additional cases, according to the dashboard update posted at www.health.pa.gov.
As a result, the number of cases per 100,000 residents, known as the incidence rate, increased from 119.1 to 146.5.
The county’s positivity rate, or the percentage of diagnostic tests yielding positive results, is now 10.2% compared to 8.2% last week.
The average daily number of hospitalized county residents on ventilators remained about the same this week. It was 3.7 last week and 4 this week.
In the final weekly benchmark, the percentage of hospital visits tied to coronavirus-like illnesses went from 1% to 1.1%.
Statewide, new cases rose from 15,927 last week to 17,273 this week, increasing the incidence rate to 134.9. The state’s positivity rate grew from 7.8% to 8.2%. An average 1,819.7 residents were hospitalized daily statewide this week, an increase of 276. Average daily hospitalized residents on ventilators increased from 190.3 last week to 223.6 this week.
County response
County Acting Manager Romilda Crocamo said she continues working with the county Emergency Management Agency, hospitals and others to monitor developments.
A mask mandate for county properties remains in effect, and Crocamo said she is prepared to reinstitute remote work scheduling if necessary in the future based on caseloads.
Crocamo sent division heads an email Friday afternoon citing the recent increases in coronavirus cases both locally and nationally.
“In the event the situation worsens, I would like to be prepared for instituting additional measures that will mitigate the spread of the virus. That will likely entail a return to remote work or alternate work schedules for all divisions and departments that are capable of continuing operations in this manner,” she wrote.
She instructed division heads to submit a remote or alternate work plan to her by Sept. 15. These plans must state whether remote work is feasible, a breakdown of workers who can and can’t work remotely, whether each department is properly equipped for remote work and how services will be provided to the public.
For essential personnel, Crocamo wants to know whether staggered shifts can be implemented to minimize the risk of exposure.
“During the height of the pandemic, when a large portion of the workforce was remote, the county did not miss a beat in providing services,” Crocamo said Friday.
At this point, she is not actively pursuing an employee vaccination mandate because it would require negotiation and agreements with the county’s multiple unions, a determination on how the county would fund the frequent testing required for employees who are not vaccinated and the potential for litigation against the county over a mandate, she said.