For the first time since mid-March, all but two of the 41 Luzerne County ZIP codes tracked by the Times Leader reported 50 or fewer new cases of COVID-19 over seven days. And from April 30 to May 7, only one code entirely within the county reported more than 50 cases.
The Wilkes-Barre Code of 18702 had the highest count by a good margin, with 71 new cases. The Bloomsburg code of 17815 came in a distant second with 53 new cases, but nearly all of that code is in Columbia County with only a small portion poking into a rural section of southern Luzerne County.
Two other codes reported 50 cases: The Hazleton code of 18201 and the Berwick code of 18603, which is about evenly split between Luzerne and Columbia counties.
The Kingston Code of 18704 reported 39 new cases. All the other codes partially or completely in Luzerne County tracked by the Times Leader had fewer than 30 cases, with 24 codes reporting fewer than 10 cases.
One anomaly stood out. The Sugarloaf code of 18249 reported negative 13 new cases. While the state does adjust data periodically, that is a larger-than-usual negative change. The state does not archive ZIP code data on the Department of Health website, so the Times Leader cannot check weekly data in its records with prior state data.
Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish
