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Centre County Added 310 COVID-19 Cases in the Last Week as Local, Statewide Infection Rates Continue to Rise

Centre County recorded 310 new COVID-19 cases during the last week as new infections and hospitalizations throughout Pennsylvania continued to tick up, according to the state Department of Health’s weekly data update on Wednesday.

The county’s new cases mark an 11% increase over the previous week and put the seven-day moving average at 44, the highest since mid-February.

Centre County has had a total of 36,326 (32,186 confirmed and 4,140 probable) since March 2020.

Pennsylvania registered 27,997 new positives over the last week, a 28% increase from the prior week. The commonwealth’s seven-day average of 3,999 is the highest since Feb. 10.

The statewide case total since the start of the pandemic is now 2,877,660.

Hospitalizations

Mount Nittany Medical Center has nine COVID-19 inpatients on Wednesday, six more than a week ago, with none in intensive care or on a ventilator. The patients range in age from 33 to 99. Eight are vaccinated and one is not vaccinated, according to the hospital’s COVID-19 inpatient dashboard.

The medical center has had an average daily census of eight COVID inpatients over the last week, one more than the previous week.

Statewide COVID-19 hospitalizations continued to rise, eclipsing 1,000 for the first time since March 8. According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 1,156 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Pennsylvania, 249 more than a week ago, with 135 in intensive care [+39] and 64 on ventilators [+28].

Deaths

DOH reported one new death attributed to the virus among Centre County residents over the last week, bringing the total to 352.

With 84 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry in the last week, the statewide total is now 44,898.

Positivity rate

Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of May 11-17 was 14.2%, up from 11.4% the previous seven days, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was 27th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

The statewide positivity rate was 16.6%, up from 13.8% the previous seven days.

Community level

Centre County remains at the “low” community level for COVID-19 for the 10th consecutive week, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s latest weekly update on May 12.

Community levels measure new cases, new hospitalizations and local hospital capacity to determine mitigation guidelines. At the low level, there is no recommendation for indoor masking.

Statewide, 46 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are at the low level. Thirteen are at the medium level, six more than the previous week and eight are at the high level [+4].

At the medium level, the CDC recommends masks indoors in public for those at risk of severe illness. At the high level, universal indoor public masking is recommended.

Schools

State College Area School District saw a steep rise in new cases for the week of May 11-17, with 112 (22 employees and 90 students) reported during that time.

“This is a significant jump in cases compared to our status during February through April, when case counts in our schools were very low,” school board members wrote in a message to families.

The district had 92 new cases a week earlier and 32 two weeks ago.

The school board “strongly encourage[s],” but is not mandating district-wide, that high-quality masks be worn in enclosed environments. Masks have been required this week for fourth grade students at one district school and fifth grade students at another after multiple cases were reported in several classes at those grade levels.

Prison cases

Centre County’s two state prisons — Benner and Rockview — have no COVID-19 cases among inmates, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections. Benner has one case among staff.

At Benner, 1,439 inmates are fully vaccinated, 27 are partially vaccinated and 236 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 303 are fully vaccinated and 326 are not vaccinated.

At Rockview, 1,657 inmates are fully vaccinated, one is partially vaccinated and 78 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 350 are fully vaccinated and 366 are not vaccinated.

Vaccinations

As of Wednesday morning, 95,802 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 116 since May 11, and 14,276 are partially covered [+40]. First booster doses have been administered to 51,115 county residents [+184] and 6,602 have received a second booster [+761].

Among the county’s entire population, 70.7% have received at least one dose, 60.1% are fully vaccinated and 52.2% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 76% have received at least one dose, 64.3% are fully vaccinated and 54.8% have received a booster.

Statewide, 78.3% of adults and 68.8% of the total population are fully vaccinated.

Vaccination appointments are available through Centre Volunteers in MedicineMount Nittany Health and through other pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.

All individuals age 12 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot. All individuals 50 and older and certain immunocompromised individuals are now eligible for a second booster shot.

Centre County’s cases by zip code:

*Note: Numbers in brackets reflect changes since May 11, when DOH last updated zip code data. 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): 8,915 confirmed [+92], 1,278 probable [+7]

16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 6,342 confirmed [+43], 576 probable

16803 (State College): 3,439 confirmed [+51], 736 probable [+7]

16866 (Philipsburg): 2,131 confirmed [+12], 301 probable [+1]

16802 (University Park): 1,886 confirmed [+4], 304 probable

16870 (Port Matilda): 1,342 confirmed [+20], 175 probable [+2]

16841 (Howard): 1,112 confirmed [+14], 100 probable

16828 (Centre Hall): 816 confirmed [+8], 81 probable [-1]

16827 (Boalsburg): 784 confirmed [+19], 105 probable

16875 (Spring Mills): 660 confirmed [+4], 75 probable

16844 (Julian): 548 confirmed [+2], 53 probable

16845 (Karthaus): 521 confirmed, 35 probable

16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 304 confirmed [+2], 29 probable

16853 (Milesburg): 290 confirmed [+3], 20 probable

16874 (Snow Shoe): 283 confirmed [+2], 38 probable

16826 (Blanchard): 250 confirmed [+1], 16 probable

16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 240 confirmed, 22 probable

16820 (Aaronsburg): 197 confirmed [+1], 27 probable

16854 (Millheim): 185 confirmed [+2], 16 probable

16829 (Clarence): 183 confirmed, 25 probable

16872 (Rebersburg): 172 confirmed [+2], 16 probable

16851 (Lemont): 167 confirmed [+4], 30 probable

16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 106 confirmed, 11 probable

16859 (Moshannon): 100 confirmed [+1], 6 probable

16832 (Coburn): 93 confirmed [+2], 9 probable

16677 (Sandy Ridge): 83 confirmed [+1], 5 probable

16835 (Fleming): 60 confirmed, 8 probable

16856 (Mingoville): 52 confirmed [+1], 10 probable

16852 (Madisonburg): 52 confirmed [+1], 5 probable

16882 (Woodward): 40 confirmed, 5 confirmed

16804 (State College): 21 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed

16863 (Orviston): 20 confirmed

16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed

Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties 
[Changes in brackets are since May 11]

Blair: 30,073 [+149]

Clearfield: 19,677 [+144]

Mifflin: 12,395 [+47]

Union: 11,910 [+68]

Huntingdon: 11,653 [+59]

Clinton: 9,254 [+97]