Recently, they've shown a slight national rise in hospitalizations, deaths, and positive COVID tests.
"We're seeing a little bit of an uptick," said Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Cheryl Bettigole.
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That uptick, though, wasn't unexpected. It's likely an underrepresentation of the actual figures since a number of people don't test at the same rate as they once did.
"COVID is still out there and it's still circulating, so I have no doubt that there may be cases we're not picking up," said Bettigole.
Since testing is not as prevalent as it used to be, wastewater monitoring is currently the most reliable way the government can keep track of COVID.
Three testing sites in the Philadelphia area have detected COVID levels that are lower than the national level, but that have fluctuated compared to previous local numbers.
In Bucks County, the concentration of COVID detected in wastewater has increased by 19% in the last month. In Montgomery County, it's up 48%, but in Chester County, it's down 79%.
"Wastewater is useful for understanding trends. But when you see a bump in the wastewater, sometimes that's just a bump in the wastewater," said Bettigole.
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"In Philadelphia, we have three streams that are tested. We saw a rise in one of those but not the other two. The one we saw a rise is where the airport is," Bettigole said.
According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, the national test positivity rate was 10.6% last week, which is a slight rise. Our region's positivity rate dropped slightly to 6.7%.
"Hospitalizations are up a little bit, but we're still well below even that 50 hospitalizations mark," Bettigole said of Philadelphia's hospitalization numbers, which are still much lower than what she estimated to be around 1,000 Philadelphia hospitalizations in January 2022.
Nationally, COVID hospitalizations rose by 14.3% in the first week of August, while deaths were up 10% compared to recent weeks.
Experts say the uptick is not a reason to panic.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health tells Action News, "Due to effective vaccinations and treatments, and the evolution of the virus, COVID-19 has become a much less severe disease for most of the population."
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"We do still want people staying away from others if they know they have COVID," said Bettigole.
Doctors also say it's a good idea to keep up with booster shots. Bettingole estimates new COVID booster shots could be available in late September or early October.
For anyone who tests positive, Bettingole says the current recommendation is to stay away from others for at least five days, knowing that they could still be contagious for up to ten days.
Philadelphia still offers free COVID tests to people who can't afford them.
More information and COVID resources can be found online.