COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise once again in Centre County, prompting Mount Nittany Medical Center to make some adjustments to its operations.
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Upendra Thaker said in a statement on Friday that because of the uptick Mount Nittany Health has “taken additional steps in our pandemic response,” including rescheduling some elective surgeries requiring an overnight admission.
“This step is essential to ensure that we are serving our COVID positive inpatients and those needing us for acute and surgical care,” Thaker said.
Through the first two weeks of August, Mount Nittany has had 29 COVID-positive admissions with an average daily census of 12. By comparison, in July MNMC had 37 COVID admissions and an average daily census of six.
The hospital had 14 COVID-19 inpatients ranging in age from 43 to 88 on Friday morning.
“The vast majority of people who have been hospitalized at the Medical Center for COVID are not fully vaccinated. The COVID vaccine is highly effective and our best defense against the transmission of COVID in our community,” Thaker said. “We have vaccinated more than 45,000 people in our community, and we strongly encourage everyone to receive it.”
As of Friday morning, 78,710 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated and 5,993 are partially covered.
The rise in hospitalizations coincides with a surge in COVID-19 cases, locally and nationally, fueled by the more contagious Delta variant of the virus.
For the past week, the county has been at the substantial level for community transmission, the second highest on the Centers for Disease Control scale. As of Friday, Pennsylvania is just one of four states in the country at the substantial level, with the rest at high level, the highest level of transmission on the scale.
Transmission levels are based on cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days and percentage of positive tests over the same period
The Pennsylvania Department of Health also reported Centre County’s first COVID-19 death in six weeks on Friday. The county has had 229 COVID-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
In addition to urging vaccinations, a statement from Mount Nittany Health also asked residents to continue following CDC recommendations for social distancing, masking and frequent hand washing.
