Philadelphia-area COVID-19 Trends Moving in the Right Direction... For The Most Part

With the Delaware Valley finally entering the so-called yellow phase of Pennsylvania's economic re-opening, the region is now setting its sights on going into the green.

The COVID-19 trends across our region are moving in the right direction, with the exception of Chester County which remained on the low-end of confirmed cases until starting an upward trend through the beginning of June.

In fact, Chester County is the only one in the five-county area with fewer than three of Governor Wolf's four requirements needed before entering the green phase.

Chester County Public Health Director, Jeanne Casner, says that can be attributed to increased, and improved, testing.

She says, "It's natural. The more you look for it, the more you're going to find it, but that's exactly what we want to do."

And while an analysis by the Action News Data Journalism Team found that Chester County still has a lower overall testing rate compared to surrounding counties, the county says its approach has put much of the focus on the most vulnerable.

That, of course, includes denser populated areas, the elderly, and minority communities.

We spoke with people enjoying some outdoor dining in West Chester who say even a sliver of normalcy feels really good.

Tom Farnesi of West Chester says, "It's been almost three months since we had some interaction with people. So, it feels good to be out."

Still, Jeanne Casner is stressing... this is no time to be lulled into a false sense of security.

"Everything we've been talking about is still important even though the stay-at-home order has been removed to keep it from sliding back."