Centre County registered one new COVID-19 death and 284 more cases of the virus on Friday, while Pennsylvania set a single-day record for new infections for the third consecutive day.
The death is Centre County’s 289th attributed to COVID-19 and 31st reported this month.
The county’s new cases — the second highest single-day increase of the pandemic — bring the total to 26,176 (23,685 confirmed and 2,491 probable). The 3,264 cases reported in December mark the county’s highest monthly total of the pandemic, eclipsing December 2020 by 685.
Pennsylvania registered 23,268 new positives — shattering the previous high set on Thursday by 3,832 — to bring the commonwealth’s total to 2,036,424. The seven-day rolling average for new cases is 12,682, a 40% increase from a week earlier and more than double the average at the end of November.
The 291,898 new cases reported statewide in December is the highest monthly total of the pandemic, surpassing the previous record of 273,185 set last December
With 66 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, the statewide total now stands at 36,705.
Hospitalizations
According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 46 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Centre County, an increase of three since Thursday, with five in intensive care [+1] and five on ventilators [+1]
Mount Nittany Medical Center did not update its COVID-19 inpatient dashboard for Friday with information about patient ages and vaccination status. As of Thursday, the hospital’s COVID-positive inpatients ranged in age from 29 to 89 and 58% were unvaccinated.
A spokesperson said on Thursday that Mount Nittany had 219 COVID-19 inpatients and average daily census of 57 COVID inpatients in December, the highest of the pandemic and a 17% increase compared to December 2020.
Elective surgeries requiring an overnight stay and all endoscopy procedures continue to be postponed through Jan. 5, and wait times at the emergency department remain significantly longer than usual.
With the spread of the more transmissible omicron variant and holiday gatherings, Mount Nittany’s chief medical officer urged community members to get vaccinated and a booster, avoid large gatherings, wear masks and wash hands.
“The omicron variant is two to three times more transmissible than the Delta variant,” Dr. Upendra Thaker said in a statement. “There are also a high number of people who are asymptomatic, or have minimal symptoms, which creates a perfect storm for spreading the virus unknowingly. We do anticipate an even greater increase in cases following the holidays with more hospitalizations to follow.”
Pennsylvania has 5,256 COVID-19 inpatients, 253 more than on Thursday, with 957 in intensive care [-19] and 612 on ventilators [+4]. Statewide hospitalizations increased for the fifth consecutive day and are at their highest level since Jan. 9.
An estimated 88% of COVID-19 patients in the state have recovered, according to a DOH calculation that considers a case as recovered if it has not been reported as a death and it is more than 30 days past the date of the first positive test or onset of symptoms.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Dec. 24-30 was 23.1%, up from 14.8% the previous seven days, according to the monitoring dashboard. The rate was 43rd among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 950 new cases for that seven-day period, 155 more than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was 24.5%, up from 15.3%, the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 77,756 new positives between Dec. 24-30, 24,399 more than the prior week.
Cases Among Children
For the 2021-2022 school year, DOH is providing weekly updated case counts for two age groups: 0-4 capturing preschool and daycare age children and 5-18 capturing kindergarten through high school age children. The case counts do not necessarily represent exposure in school or daycare settings and the location of exposure cannot be determined in most cases.
DOH did not update child case data for the week of Dec. 22-28. For the week of Dec. 15-21, there were 22 new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and 54 in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 13% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.
Since Aug. 16, there have been 1,390 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 236 between the ages of 0-4 and 1,154 between the ages of 5 and 18 — representing about 19.5% of all cases during that time.
Prison cases
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Benner state prison has three active COVID-19 cases among inmates and 20 among staff.
Rockview state prison has 27 active inmate cases and 16 among staff.
Both facilities are in Benner Township.
At Benner, 1,520 inmates are fully vaccinated, nine are partially vaccinated and 190 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 303 are fully vaccinated and 325 are not vaccinated.
Rockview has 1,684 inmates who are fully vaccinated and 61 who are not vaccinated. Among staff, 343 are fully vaccinated, one is partially vaccinated and 373 are not vaccinated.
Transmission level
Centre County remains at the highest level for community transmission of COVID-19 on the Centers for Disease Control scale, according to the latest county-level data update.
Across Pennsylvania, 66 of 67 counties are at the highest level on the scale. Forest County is listed as substantial, the second highest level.
Transmission levels are based on positivity rate and cases per 100,000 people for the previous seven days. At the substantial and high levels, CDC guidance recommends all people, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public indoor settings.
Vaccinations
As of Friday morning, 91,079 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 104 since Thursday, and 12,618 are partially covered [+144]. Booster doses have been administered to 36,270 county residents [+497].
Among the county’s entire population, 65.9% have received at least one dose and 57% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 71.2% have received at least one dose and 61.5% are fully vaccinated.
Statewide, 74.1% of adults and 63.9% of the total population are fully vaccinated.
Vaccination appointments through Centre Volunteers in Medicine, Mount Nittany Health and through other pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
All individuals age 16 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.
Centre County’s cases by zip code:
*Note: Changes are in brackets. Specific numbers for zip codes with 1-4 cases are redacted by the health department. Cases are not always immediately assigned zip codes.
16801 (State College): 7,238 confirmed [+83], 667 probable
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 4,566 confirmed [+45], 410 probable [-2]
16803 (State College): 2,275 confirmed [+49], 346 probable [-10]
16802 (University Park): 1,672 confirmed [-4], 94 probable [-10]
16866 (Philipsburg): 1,486 confirmed [+12], 238 probable [+1]
16870 (Port Matilda): 893 confirmed [+10], 119 probable
16841 (Howard): 791 confirmed [+7], 86 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 566 confirmed [+5], 56 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 525 confirmed [+1], 61 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 514 confirmed [+7], 73 probable [+1]
16844 (Julian): 422 confirmed [+5], 47 probable [-1]
16845 (Karthaus): 402 confirmed [+2], 30 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 222 confirmed [+4], 12 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 216 confirmed [+2], 31 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 210 confirmed, 24 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 182 confirmed [+2], 13 probable [-1]
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 152 confirmed [+5], 13 probable [-2]
16854 (Millheim): 138 confirmed, 13 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 135 confirmed [+2], 25 probable
16829 (Clarence): 129 confirmed [+1], 26 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 114 confirmed [+2], 13 probable
16851 (Lemont): 106 confirmed [+1], 19 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 74 confirmed [+1], 5 probable
16832 (Coburn): 65 confirmed, 5 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 55 confirmed, 1-4 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 55 confirmed [+2], 7 probable [-1]
16856 (Mingoville): 39 confirmed, 9 probable
16835 (Fleming): 39 confirmed [+1], 8 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 36 confirmed, 5 probable
16882 (Woodward): 29 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16804 (State College): 16 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 15 confirmed
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 22,985 [+83]
Clearfield: 14,487 [+75]
Mifflin: 9,241 [+49]
Union: 8,991 [+43]
Huntingdon: 8,475 [+32]
Clinton: 6,803 [+56]
