While local cases and hospitalizations linked to the virus ticked up, Centre County remained at the low community level for COVID-19 for the fourth consecutive week, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s update on Thursday night.
None of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties were at the high level for the second straight week as new cases rose but hospitalizations declined. Statewide, 47 counties were at low, 10 more than last week, and 20 were at medium [-10].
At the low level, the CDC recommends wearing a mask if symptomatic, if an individual has tested positive for COVID-19 or has been exposed to someone who has, and when on public transportation, but does not recommend universal indoor masking in public places.
HOSPITALIZATIONS AND CASES
For a county to be at the low level, it has fewer than 200 new cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period, with fewer than 10 COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people and less than 10% of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients over the same period.
Centre County had a case rate of 80.67 per 100,000 people (up from 70.2 last week) and 8.4 new COVID admissions per 100,000 (up from 7), with 5.1% of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 inpatients (up from 4.3%).
Mount Nittany Medical Center had 10 COVID-19 inpatients as of the hospital’s inpatient dashboard update on Thursday. None are in intensive care or on ventilators. The patients range in age from 65 to 90. For the week of Feb. 3-9, Mount Nittany had an average daily COVID inpatient census of 10.85, up from 10 last week.
The county added 131 reported new cases in the last week, 17 more than the previous seven days, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data. The seven-day rolling average for new cases was 18.7, up from 16.3.
A total of 43,678 COVID-19 cases (38,992 confirmed and 4,686 probable) have been reported among Centre County residents since March 2020.
STATEWIDE
Pennsylvania registered 11,154 reported new positives over the last week, 885 more than the previous week’s new cases. The rolling seven-day average of 1,593 new cases is up from 1,467 the prior week.
The commonwealth’s case total since the start of the pandemic is now 3,490,499.
According to the DOH data, 1,180 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide as of Wednesday, 34 fewer than a week earlier, with 147 in intensive care [-10] and 52 on ventilators [-23].
DEATHS
DOH recorded no new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents in the last week, keeping the total at 392.
With 130 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry in the last week, the statewide total is now 49,921.
POSITIVITY RATE
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Feb. 1-7 was 12.9%, up from 11.8% the previous seven days, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was 23rd highest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The statewide positivity rate was 12.3%, down from 12.6% the prior week.
VACCINATIONS
As of Wednesday morning, 102,739 people in Centre County have completed the primary vaccination series, an increase of 55 since Feb. 1, and 13,074 are partially covered [+3]. Bivalent booster doses have been administered to 30,061 county residents [+205].
Among the county’s entire population, 75.2% have received at least one dose and 63.8% have completed the primary vaccine series, while 20.1% of eligible residents (age 5 and older) have received the bivalent booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 79.9% have received at least one dose, 67.6% have completed the primary series and 21.4% have received the bivalent booster booster.
Statewide, 82.7% of adults and 73.3% of the total population have completed the primary series, while the bivalent booster has been administered to 21.1% of adults and 18.7% of all residents age 5 and older.
Vaccination appointments are available through pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
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): 10,492 confirmed [+25], 1,418 probable [+6]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 7,698 confirmed [+31], 660 probable [+3]
16803 (State College): 4,511 confirmed [+17], 870 probable [+1]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,810 confirmed [+11], 354 probable [-3]
16802 (University Park): 2,114 confirmed [+6], 316 probable [+1]
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,704 confirmed [+5], 226 probable [+3]
16841 (Howard): 1,333 confirmed [+1], 116 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 1,035 confirmed [+5], 131 probable [+1]
16828 (Centre Hall): 1,026 confirmed [+4], 102 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 813 confirmed [+5], 88 probable [+1]
16844 (Julian): 661 confirmed, 57 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 570 confirmed, 32 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 362 confirmed [+3], 20 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 352 confirmed [+2], 40 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 347 confirmed, 34 probable [+1]
16826 (Blanchard): 302 confirmed, 18 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 291 confirmed [+1], 30 probable
16851 (Lemont): 228 confirmed, 34 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 224 confirmed, 28 probable
16829 (Clarence): 223 confirmed [+1], 26 probable
16854 (Millheim): 210 confirmed, 19 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 196 confirmed, 17 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 133 confirmed, 14 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 127 confirmed, 6 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 113 confirmed [+1], 6 probable
16832 (Coburn): 108 confirmed [+1], 11 probable
16835 (Fleming): 73 confirmed, 7 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 61 confirmed, 5 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 58 confirmed, 12 probable
16882 (Woodward): 49 confirmed, 5 confirmed
16804 (State College): 24 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 23 confirmed
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
CASES AMONG CENTRE COUNTY’S BORDERING COUNTIES
Blair: 34,816 [+67] Low Community Level
Clearfield: 24,127 [+81] Low Community Level
Mifflin: 15,019 [+47] Low Community Level
Huntingdon: 13,754 [+41] Low Community Level
Union: 13,447 [+20] Medium Community Level
Clinton: 11,054 [+22] Low Community Level
