While McKean County is still considered at moderate risk for COVID-19, there is no plan to change from in-person education in the Bradford Area School District.
On Monday, Gov. Tom Wolf and Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine released a weekly status update detailing the state’s mitigation efforts based on the COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard.
This week’s update compares the period of Oct. 23 to 29 to the previous seven days, Oct. 16 to 22. The level of community transmission is used as a basis for the recommendations for Pre-K to 12 schools to determine instructional models.
McKean County’s number of cases went from 13 cases in the previous 7 days to 38 cases in the most recent 7 days. The county also went from a rate of 31.7 per 100,000 residents to 92.8 per 100,000 residents in the most recent seven-day window.
Bradford Superintendent Katy Pude explained Monday that at this time there will be no change in the instructional model for any of the schools in the Bradford Area School District.
“Although our county and community continue to remain in a moderate phase, we have not seen any additional students or staff test positive beyond the three that we reported. Those individuals, as well as those who were quarantined due to having close contacts with them, are either all back in our buildings or will be by Wednesday,” Pude said.
The superintendent continued, “We all know how important it is for our students to be in school and I have learned that both the PDE and the DOH will be in contact with McKean County schools should we move into the substantial phase to discuss options. I am hopeful that the spread will remain low in our schools and that our community works together to keep the virus at bay so that we can continue to keep our doors open for our students.”
McKean and Potter remain within the moderate level, while Cameron is in the low level of transmission. Elk County moved from substantial risk during the previous seven day period to moderate risk. For the week ending Oct. 29, five counties were in the low level of transmission, 36 counties in the moderate level, with 26 with substantial transmission.
Potter County’s percent-positivity rate for the most recent seven day window was 7.3%.
Meanwhile, Elk County had a rate of 6.4%.
On a positive note for McKean County, the PCR positivity rate decreased from 3.9 to 3.7; while the hospital emergency room visits decreased from 1.1% to 0.9% in the most recent seven days.
As of Thursday, Oct. 29, the state had seen a seven-day case increase of 14,516 cases; the previous seven-day increase was 10,127 cases, indicating 4,389 more new cases across the state over the past week compared to the previous week.
