Centre County reported 46 new COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day on Saturday to bring its total to 20,659 according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Among total cases 18,691 are confirmed and 1,968 are probable.
Pennsylvania added 4,366 positives to increase the statewide total to 1,561,825.
The county also had 82 new negative test results for a total of 82,590. Statewide there were 8,192 negatives to bring the total to 5,713,821.
Deaths
DOH reported no new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents, keeping the total at 244.
With 36 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, the statewide total is now 31,413.
Hospitalizations
According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 38 COVID-19 inpatients are hospitalized in Centre County, unchanged from Friday, with two in intensive care [-1] and one on a ventilator [-1].
Mount Nittany Medical Center’s average daily census of COVID positive inpatients climbed from 27 in September to 34 in October, the third highest average daily census per month in the pandemic, according to a hospital spokesperson. Mount Nittany has had 122 COVID-19 hospitalizations this month.
Pennsylvania has 2,704 COVID-19 inpatients, a decrease of 34 since Friday, with 664 in intensive care [-1] and 381 on ventilators [+8].
For the week of Oct. 22-28, Pennsylvania had 3,020 average daily COVID hospitalizations, up from 2,953.6 the prior week, according to the updated Department of Health early warning monitoring dashboard.
An estimated 91% 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 Oct. 22-28 was 7.7%, up from 6.9% the previous seven days, according to the monitoring dashboard. The rate was 10th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 256 new cases for that seven-day period, 47 more than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was 8.8%, down from 9.1% the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 20,424 new positives between Oct. 22-28, 2,036 fewer 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.
For the week of Oct. 20-26, there were 12 new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and 45 in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 25% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.
Since Aug. 16, there have been 733 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 113 between the ages of 0-4 and 620 between the ages of 5 and 18 — representing about 23% of all cases during that time.
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 on Saturday.
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 Saturday morning, 84,769 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated [+71 since Friday] and 6,967 are partially covered [+68]. Third doses have been administered to 10,813 county residents [+496].
Among the county’s entire population, 65.9% have received at least one dose and 54.9% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 73.5% have received at least one dose and 61.2% are fully vaccinated.
Statewide, 71.6% of adults and 60.4% of the total population are fully vaccinated. Pennsylvania is fifth in the nation for total doses administered, according the CDC.
Vaccination appointments for ages 12 and older are available through Centre Volunteers in Medicine, Mount Nittany Health and through other pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices and CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky are expected to approve the use of the new pediatric Pfizer vaccine next week for ages 5-11. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, providers will be able to schedule appointments for the vaccine immediately after final approval is provided by the CDC and will have vaccines to administer as early as Nov. 4.
Parents and guardians of children who are patients of the Mount Nittany Physician Group pediatrics practice can sign up now online to get their child the vaccine when it becomes available, according to a Mount Nittany Health release on Friday. A vaccine clinic is tentatively scheduled for early November.
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): 6,304 confirmed [+7], 518 probable [+2]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 3,411 confirmed [+9], 338 probable [+1]
16803 (State College): 1,759 confirmed [+2], 257 probable
16802 (University Park): 1,547 confirmed [-1], 78 probable [+1]
16866 (Philipsburg): 1,126 confirmed [+1], 168 probable [+1]
16870 (Port Matilda): 688 confirmed [+2], 103 probable [+1]
16841 (Howard): 598 confirmed [+1], 71 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 421 confirmed [+2], 45 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 406 confirmed, 53 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 398 confirmed [+1], 56 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 322 confirmed, 20 probable
16844 (Julian): 304 confirmed [+2], 34 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 167 confirmed, 12 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 166 confirmed [+1], 22 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 149 confirmed, 25 probable [+1]
16826 (Blanchard): 132 confirmed [+1], 13 probable [-1]
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 113 confirmed, 10 probable
16829 (Clarence): 104 confirmed [+1], 23 probable [+1]
16854 (Millheim): 104 confirmed [+1], 8 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 101 confirmed [+1], 21 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 87 confirmed, 11 probable
16851 (Lemont): 81 confirmed, 16 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 58 confirmed [+2], 5 probable [+1]
16832 (Coburn): 53 confirmed [+1], 5 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 45 confirmed [+1], 1-4 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 36 confirmed, 5 probable
16835 (Fleming): 33 confirmed, 7 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 32 confirmed, 5 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 31 confirmed, 8 probable
16882 (Woodward): 18 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 14 confirmed
16804 (State College): 12 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 17,644 [+137]
Clearfield: 11,296 [+43]
Union: 7,514 [+45]
Mifflin: 7,300 [+29]
Huntingdon: 6,868 [+13]
Clinton: 5,010 [+35]
