Bucks County’s COVID 19 case count number counts continue to hoover between 10 to 20 cases reported daily despite recent large community gatherings with no case spikes over the last three weeks.
Health Director Dr David Damsker said in response to reporters questions there hasn’t been a case spike three weeks after several community rallies where hundreds attended if not thousands shared the same spaces in outdoors in county communities.
We go on peoples word when it comes to the contact tracing protocols he said.
Commissioner Bob Harvie with wife Christine at Bristol Peace Wall
Credit: Jeff Bohen, Lower Bucks Source.
The peace walks in Lower Bucks and elsewhere were criticized heavily by proponents who believe continuing, at that time, to have a shuttered economy, but hundreds, and in some cases, thousands in the street was seemingly absurd in light of the potential risk of contracting the virus.
Damsker said he there hasn’t been a spike in the case numbers due in part to the coronavirus spreading more due droplet spread than it being airborne
“I think that being outside there is definitely a big advantage to that. This makes me feel more comfortable it is a droplet spread virus. Those droplets are going down. he said ” if it was airborne, like measles, chicken pox , maybe we would have seen a few more cases because not everyone was masked” he said.
Even going back to the data from China, they were having trouble finding data from outdoor exposures, he said when offering his reasoning why a spike or increase did not occur in the area.
Our 14 -day case count numbers are still down. We have hit sort of a plateau where we don’t believe it’ll go much lower than 10 to 20 cases a day because there is still virus in the community.” he said.
Commissioner Bob Harvie, who attended the Bristol Borough peace walk with his family, said even though people were in close proximity to each other, most everyone was wearing masks with little to no physical contact.
You saw very little contact between and among people there. People were very much aware and conscious of the virus was while exercising their right to free speech, said Harvie.
“They (attendees) were conscious of themselves and others” the commissioner said.
Damsker did voice concerns about what was occurring in other states with spikes reported in Florida, Texas and Arizona, states that opened their economies and lifted mask restrictions.
Damsker said there has been at least one reported county case from interstate travel to Arizona, reiterating the need here at home to continue observing wearing personal protective equipment.
“Green doesn’t equal gone,” he said, “Its still out there.” he said.
To date there have been 5342 confirmed cases, 3393, recoveries, with 504 deaths reported county wide according to health department data.
