MONROE COUNTY, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Health reports 56 new cases of COVID-19 in Monroe County on Wednesday, down from Tuesday's count of 63.
"We look at it as a rolling 14-day per capita rate. What I would say is in that rolling 14 days per capita, the last 10 days, we've been at a plateau, so we haven't really been seeing an uptick necessarily. We monitor these positivity rates daily, and we look for very slight changes so that we can act and be there for the community to care for them and COVID. We are on this every day," said Donald Seiple, the president of St. Luke's Monroe Campus in Stroud Township.
Seiple tells Newswatch 16 the number of patients being admitted to the hospital is coming down.
"I also looked at our positivity rate for our network, so looking at our own positivity testing and we are continuing on a downward, our positivity rate coming down, and so I think it's proportional. People who are testing positive, of them, have to be hospitalized, but it's a smaller number because the number of people testing positive is smaller," said Seiple.
As vaccinations continue and restrictions across Pennsylvania ease, doctors say this is not the time to let our guard down.
"I really think it's important for our general public to remain vigilant with masking and social distancing. If we do that as we vaccinate, we are going to get back to normal quicker," said Seiple.
Likewise, health officials at Lehigh Valley Hospital Pocono in East Stroudsburg tell Newswatch 16 they have not seen an increase in hospital admissions but are closely monitoring the situation for any changes.