Centre County recorded 125 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday to increase its total to 33,814, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Among total cases, 30,105 are confirmed and 3,709 are probable.
The county’s seven-day moving average for new cases per day is 93, down from 178 a week ago and 224 two weeks ago.
Pennsylvania reported 8,434 new COVID-19 positives to bring the statewide total to 2,697,242.
It was the largest statewide increase in the past week, but marked the sixth consecutive day with fewer than 10,000 new cases. The statewide seven-day average for new cases is 6,856, down from 12,726 a week ago and 19,244 two weeks ago.
Deaths
DOH reported no new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents, keeping the total at 326.
With 165 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, the statewide total is now 41,524.
Hospitalizations
According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 44 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Centre County, four more than on Friday, with four in intensive care and three on ventilators.
Through the first four days of February, Mount Nittany Medical Center had an average daily COVID inpatient census of 42. In January, the hospital had an average daily census of 45, down from the record-high 57 in December but still the third-highest monthly average of the pandemic.
“Community spread continues to be high, and nearly one in every three patients at the medical center is hospitalized for COVID. We are concerned that admissions for COVID remain high,” Tiffany Cabibbo, executive vice president of patient care services and chief nursing officer, said in a statement on Friday. “Having to limit or delay our services is not how we want to be providing care, but it’s been necessary for several months now. We encourage everyone to do their part to slow the transmission of COVID In our community.”
Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to decline and reached their lowest level since Nov. 29. According to the DOH dashboard, 3,758 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Pennsylvania, 110 fewer than on Friday, with 642 patients in intensive care [-12] and 415 on ventilators [-10].
The commonwealth had 4,517 average daily COVID-19-specific hospitalizations for the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3, down from 5,985 a week earlier, according to the updated DOH early warning monitoring dashboard.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Jan. 28-Feb. 3 was 17.6%, down from 25.8% the previous seven days and marking a decline for the fourth consecutive week, according to the monitoring dashboard. The rate was tied for 11th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 543 new cases for that seven-day period, 498 fewer than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was 18.4%, down from 25.4% the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 42,232 new positives between Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 34,828 fewer than the prior week.
Transmission level
All 67 counties in Pennsylvania are 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.
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.
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.
For the week of Jan. 26-Feb. 1, there were 51 new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and 126 in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 20% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.
Since Aug. 16, there have been 3,045 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 585 between the ages of 0-4 and 2,460 between the ages of 5 and 18 — representing about 19% of all cases during that time.
Nursing and personal care home cases
Long-term care facilities in Centre County reported no new COVID-19 cases among residents or employees. A total of 20 nursing and personal care homes in the county have had a combined 750 resident cases, 727 employee cases and 182 resident deaths.
Prison cases
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Benner state prison has 21 active COVID-19 cases among inmates and 21 among staff, two fewer than on Friday.
Rockview state prison has 18 active inmate cases [-1] and 13 among staff [-3].
Both facilities are in Benner Township.
At Benner, 1,475 inmates are fully vaccinated, 16 are partially vaccinated and 190 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 310 are fully vaccinated and 318 are not vaccinated.
Rockview has 1,709 inmates who are fully vaccinated and 60 who are not vaccinated. Among staff, 340 are fully vaccinated [-1] and 377 are not vaccinated [+1].
Vaccinations
As of Saturday morning, 93,256 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 34 since Friday, and 14,057 are partially covered [-2]. Booster doses have been administered to 47,487 county residents [+44].
Among the county’s entire population, 68.7% have received at least one dose, 58.5% are fully vaccinated and 49.8% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 74% have received at least one dose, 62.7% are fully vaccinated and 52.4% have received a booster.
Statewide, 75.8% of adults and 66.1% of the total population are fully vaccinated.
Vaccination appointments are available through Centre Volunteers in Medicine, Mount Nittany Health and through other pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
All individuals age 12 and older are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.
Centre County’s cases by zip code:
*Note: Increases 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): 8,379 confirmed [+20], 1,096 probable [+3]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 5,977 confirmed [+38], 548 probable [-1]
16803 (State College): 3,096 confirmed [+11], 618 probable
16866 (Philipsburg): 1,958 confirmed [+9], 294 probable
16802 (University Park): 1,807 confirmed, 253 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,210 confirmed [+4], 163 probable [+2]
16841 (Howard): 1,033 confirmed [+6], 95 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 762 confirmed [+10], 80 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 707 confirmed [+7, 96 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 635 confirmed [+7], 71 probable
16844 (Julian): 522 confirmed [+1], 52 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 506 confirmed [+1], 35 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 287 confirmed [+4], 29 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 275 confirmed [+1], 19 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 263 confirmed, 35 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 236 confirmed, 15 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 215 confirmed, 20 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 177 confirmed [+3], 26 probable
16829 (Clarence): 175 confirmed, 24 probable
16854 (Millheim): 171 confirmed [+1], 16 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 157 confirmed [+2], 16 probable
16851 (Lemont): 153 confirmed [+1], 24 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 96 confirmed [+1], 6 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 91 confirmed, 11 probable
16832 (Coburn): 86 confirmed [+1], 8 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 74 confirmed [+1], 6 probable
16835 (Fleming): 59 confirmed [+1], 8 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 51 confirmed, 10 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 42 confirmed, 5 probable
16882 (Woodward): 40 confirmed [+2], 1-4 confirmed
16804 (State College): 20 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 19 confirmed
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 28,360 [+166]
Clearfield: 18,377 [+68]
Mifflin: 11,779 [+66]
Union: 11,228 [+71]
Huntingdon: 11,041 [+66]
Clinton: 8,677 [+30]
