Centre County remained at the low community level for COVID-19 for the 13th consecutive week as local new cases and hospitalizations linked to the virus fell, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s latest update on Thursday night.
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.
Statewide, one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties — Mercer — is at the high level, five fewer than last week. Forty are at the low level [-1], and 26 are at medium [+6].
As COVID-19 cases rise nationwide, along with surges in influenza and RSV heading into the holidays, Americans can order four free at-home COVID test kits online through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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 87.45 per 100,000 people (down from 105.92 last week) and 4.9 new COVID admissions per 100,000 (down from 6.3), with 3.2% of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 inpatients (down from 4.5%).
The county added 142 reported new cases in the last week, 30 fewer than the previous seven days, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data. The seven-day rolling average for new cases was 20.3, down from 24.5.
A total of 42,683 COVID-19 cases (38,063 confirmed and 4,620 probable) have been reported among Centre County residents since March 2020.
Mount Nittany Medical Center had eight COVID-19 inpatients on Friday, according to its inpatient dashboard, with none in intensive care or on ventilators. The patients range in age from 60 to 92. For the week of Dec. 10-16, Mount Nittany had an average daily COVID inpatient census of 6.7, down from 10.4 last week.
STATEWIDE
Pennsylvania registered 13,838 reported new positives over the last week, 98 fewer cases than a week ago. The rolling seven-day average of 1,977 is down from 1,991 the prior week.
The commonwealth’s case total since the start of the pandemic is now 3,388,571.
According to the DOH data, 1,329 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide as of Wednesday, 65 more than a week earlier, with 165 in intensive care [+11] and 64 on ventilators [+8].
DEATHS
DOH recorded three new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents in the last week, bringing the total to 384.
With 135 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry in the last week, the statewide total is now 48,662.
POSITIVITY RATE
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Dec. 7-13 was 10.3%, down from 11.5% the previous seven days, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was the 30th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The statewide positivity rate was 11.6%, up from 10.9% the prior week.
VACCINATIONS
As of Wednesday morning, 101,829 people in Centre County have completed the primary vaccination series, an increase of 172 since Dec. 7, and 13,320 are partially covered [-53]. Bivalent booster doses have been administered to 25,937 county residents [+1,015].
Among the county’s entire population, 74.6% have received at least one dose and 63.4% have completed the primary vaccine series, while 17.3% of eligible residents (age 5 and older) have received the bivalent booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 79.5% have received at least one dose, 67.2% have completed the primary series and 18.5% have received the bivalent booster booster.
Statewide, 82.2% of adults and 72.8% of the total population have completed the primary series, while the bivalent booster has been administered to 18.1% of adults and 15.9% of all residents age 5 and older.
Vaccination appointments are available through pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
Vaccine providers are now administering bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccines, which provide additional protection against the original coronavirus and Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5.
Individuals must have already received their primary vaccination series — two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson — to be eligible for the new updated booster shot. Pfizer boosters are now available for ages 5 and older and Moderna boosters are available for ages 6 and older.
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): 10,281 confirmed [+39], 1,401 probable [-1]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 7,491 confirmed [+24], 655 probable
16803 (State College): 4,395 confirmed [+18], 861 probable [+1]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,665 confirmed [+22], 338 probable
16802 (University Park): 2,084 confirmed [+5], 314 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,664 confirmed [+6], 215 probable [+1]
16841 (Howard): 1,301 confirmed [+3], 115 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 1,008 confirmed [+4], 126 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 992 confirmed [+3], 102 probable [+2]
16875 (Spring Mills): 795 confirmed [+1], 83 probable
16844 (Julian): 639 confirmed [+2], 58 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 563 confirmed, 32 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 350 confirmed [+2], 20 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 340 confirmed [+1], 32 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 332 confirmed [+1], 41 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 294 confirmed, 18 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 283 confirmed [+3], 29 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 220 confirmed [+1], 28 probable
16851 (Lemont): 217 confirmed [+4], 34 probable [+1]
16829 (Clarence): 212 confirmed [+2], 25 probable
16854 (Millheim): 208 confirmed, 18 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 194 confirmed, 17 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 129 confirmed [+2], 13 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 121 confirmed [+1], 6 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 112 confirmed, 6 probable
16832 (Coburn): 105 confirmed, 11 probable
16835 (Fleming): 72 confirmed, 7 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 58 confirmed, 5 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 57 confirmed, 12 probable
16882 (Woodward): 49 confirmed, 5 confirmed
16804 (State College): 24 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 22 confirmed
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
CASES AMONG CENTRE COUNTY’S BORDERING COUNTIES
Blair: 34,158 [+90] Low Community Level
Clearfield: 23,327 [+80] Low Community Level
Mifflin: 14,586 [+70] Medium Community Level
Union: 13,223 [+28] Medium Community Level
Huntingdon: 13,417 [+60] Medium Community Level
Clinton: 10,783 [+36] Medium Community Level
