Although statewide cases saw an uptick, Centre County remained at the low community level for COVID-19 for the 14th consecutive week, 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.
For the second consecutive week, only one of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties — Mercer — is at the high level. Thirty-eight are at the low level [-2], and 28 are at medium [+2].
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 86.21 per 100,000 people (down from 87.45 last week) and 8.1 new COVID admissions per 100,000 (up from 4.9), with 3.4% of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 inpatients (up from 3.2%).
The county added 140 reported new cases in the last week, two fewer than the previous seven days, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data. The seven-day rolling average for new cases was 20, down from 20.3.
A total of 42,823 COVID-19 cases (38,185 confirmed and 4,638 probable) have been reported among Centre County residents since March 2020.
Mount Nittany Medical Center had five COVID-19 inpatients on Friday, according to its inpatient dashboard, with none in intensive care or on ventilators. The patients range in age from 61 to 86. For the week of Dec. 17-23, Mount Nittany had an average daily COVID inpatient census of 7.7, up from 6.7 last week.
STATEWIDE
Pennsylvania registered 14,606 reported new positives over the last week, 768 more new cases than the previous week. The rolling seven-day average of 2,086 is up from 1,977 the prior week.
The commonwealth’s case total since the start of the pandemic is now 3,403,177.
According to the DOH data, 1,317 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide as of Wednesday, 12 fewer than a week earlier, with 170 in intensive care [+5] and 75 on ventilators [+11].
DEATHS
DOH recorded no new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents in the last week, keeping the total at 384.
With 136 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry in the last week, the statewide total is now 48,798.
POSITIVITY RATE
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Dec. 14-20 was 10.2%, down from 10.3% the previous seven days, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was tied for 22nd lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The statewide positivity rate was 12.6%, up from 11.6% the prior week.
VACCINATIONS
As of Wednesday morning, 101,987 people in Centre County have completed the primary vaccination series, an increase of 158 since Dec. 14, and 13,281 are partially covered [-39]. Bivalent booster doses have been administered to 26,848 county residents [+911].
Among the county’s entire population, 74.8% have received at least one dose and 63.4% have completed the primary vaccine series, while 17.9% of eligible residents (age 5 and older) have received the bivalent booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 79.6% have received at least one dose, 67.3% have completed the primary series and 19.1% have received the bivalent booster booster.
Statewide, 82.3% of adults and 72.9% of the total population have completed the primary series, while the bivalent booster has been administered to 18.8% of adults and 16.6% 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): 10,303 confirmed [+22], 1,408 probable [+7]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 7,515 confirmed [+24], 655 probable
16803 (State College): 4,418 confirmed [+23], 863 probable [+2]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,692 confirmed [+27], 341 probable [+3]
16802 (University Park): 2,085 confirmed [+1], 314 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,666 confirmed [+2], 217 probable [+2]
16841 (Howard): 1,305 confirmed [+4], 115 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 1,011 confirmed [+3], 129 probable [+3]
16828 (Centre Hall): 999 confirmed [+7], 101 probable [-1]
16875 (Spring Mills): 796 confirmed [+1], 85 probable [+2]
16844 (Julian): 644 confirmed [+5], 58 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 564 confirmed [+1], 32 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 353 confirmed [+3], 20 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 341 confirmed [+1], 32 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 337 confirmed [+5], 41 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 295 confirmed [+1], 18 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 286 confirmed [+3], 30 probable [+1]
16820 (Aaronsburg): 221 confirmed [+1], 28 probable
16851 (Lemont): 217 confirmed, 34 probable
16829 (Clarence): 212 confirmed, 25 probable
16854 (Millheim): 208 confirmed, 18 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 194 confirmed, 17 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 129 confirmed, 13 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 125 confirmed [+4], 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: 34,248 [+90] Low Community Level
Clearfield: 23,432 [+105] Low Community Level
Mifflin: 14,658 [+72] Low Community Level
Union: 13,275 [+52] Medium Community Level
Huntingdon: 13,478 [+61] Low Community Level
Clinton: 10,826 [+43] Low Community Level
