With more than half of Chester County’s eligible population receiving at least the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and with the weekly number of new cases in the county declining for the first time in more than a month, there is reason to believe this summer will be brighter than the last.

Amidst this optimism, however, remains the fact that some areas of the county have been more affected by the pandemic than others, write Sean Adams and Megan Lavey-Heaton for the Harrisburg Patriot-News.

The latest numbers compiled by the Pennsylvania Department of Health have highlighted the rates of COVID-19 infection in each ZIP Code statewide for the seven days ending April 14, compared with the infection rates for the seven days prior.

In Chester County, the highest percentage increase in new cases during this period was in ZIP Code 19333 (Devon), which recorded an increase of 6.4 percent.

ZIP Code 19343 (Glenmoore) is close behind with an increase of 5.0 percent, followed by ZIP Code 19350 (Landenberg) at 4.6 percent and ZIP Code 19475 (Spring City) at 4.3 percent.

Meanwhile, ZIP Code 19310 (Atglen) reported an increase of just 1.0 percent, while ZIP Code 19330 (Cochranville) recorded an increase of only 1.4 percent.

Read more about where COVID-19 is spreading the most and least in Chester County in the Harrisburg Patriot-News.