Keith Mayer: COVID case increase slows in Berks, and hospitalizations rise

May 25—The weekly report of the Pennsylvania Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard shows a slowing of the growth rate of cases and reinfections for Berks County and Pennsylvania in the second omicron surge.

However, COVID hospitalizations continued to rise from the previous week, and four deaths of Berks residents were reported, the most in a week since the second week of March.

Berks had 913 new COVID cases and reinfections, up slightly from 876 in the May 18 report.

That's a seven-day average of 130 cases, the highest since early February, and 128 for the 14-day, the most since mid-February.

The daily updates were discontinued after May 4. The weekly update of cases is cumulative for the week that ended with Tuesday.

The first weekly update showed Berks with 513 cases.

The third omicron derivative, BA.2.12.1, continues to be the dominant force in COVID in the mid-Atlantic. But, like its parent and siblings, is less lethal than the previous Greek-letter-named variants.

The averages smooth the uneven processing of tests and provide a trend, which has been up for the past seven weeks.

The number of people hospitalized in Berks with COVID was up to 36, an increase of 10 from May 18, which had been an increase of eight from May 11. Of the 36, four were in intensive care and three were on ventilators.

The only bright spot was the ventilator count was down from seven in the May 11 report.

The hospitalized count is not cumulative for the week. It is snapshot of the situation on Tuesday. The health department's dashboard does not provide the hospitalization ups and down between the weekly updates.

The last time that many people were in Berks hospitals was Feb. 21, and at the time three were in the ICU and two were on ventilators, similar to the current count.

Tower Health continues to publish a weekly COVID update for its facilities, which showed Reading Hospital with 20 COVID patients admitted or under observation and eight discharges in the prior 24 hours.

That dashboard as well is not cumulative and is only a snapshot of the midweek situation.

The 20 patients were evenly split between vaccinated and not vaccinated. The patient in the ICU was vaccinated as was the one patient on a ventilator.

The vaccinated label applies if someone has finished the single-shot, but rarely given, Johnson & Johnson product or the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. The vaccinated label sticks no matter how long ago the vaccinations were completed.

Health experts have been alarmed about the numbers of people who might be more vulnerable due to lapses in continuing vaccinations, plus the latest omicron strain is more resistant to the available vaccines.

The health department's count of COVID deaths of Berks residents increased by four in a week to 1,601. It was unclear if those deaths occurred within Berks or somewhere else.

The county coroner's office has not reported a death since May 16 and the count of deaths within Berks remains at 1,457. But the state is slower to report. It seems likely most of the four deaths were not in Berks.

CDC statistics

Additional statistics for Berks County available Wednesday from the daily U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention update included:

—25: COVID hospital admissions past week

—19.5%: Positivity rate, highest of the second omicron surge

—Risk: Moderate

—257,696: Fully vaccinated, up about 600 in a week

—114,340: Total number of boosters and extra shots given, up about 700 in a week

The Berks population is 429,000. The CDC doesn't distinguish between first and second boosters, or between extra shots for the immunocompromised.

Pa.'s numbers

A composite of COVID stats available through the state and CDC about Pennsylvania overall:

—4,364: daily case average in the past week, up slightly.

—23 counties are now considered high risk, including Lehigh, Montgomery and Chester, which adjoin Berks.

—17 counties are now considered moderate risk, including Berks and its neighbor to the north, Schuylkill.

—1,286: Hospitalized count, more than triple the early April low point and 130 more than a week ago.

—181: COVID admissions past week, up slightly.

—151: ICU count, up 16 in a week.

—67: deaths in a week, down 13.