Centre County Adds 25 COVID-19 Cases; Pennsylvania Reports 1,057 New Positives

Centre County recorded its most new COVID-19 cases in more than a month on Saturday, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data.

The 25 new cases mark the county’s largest increase since March 4 and bring the pandemic total to 35,194 (31,244 confirmed and 3,950 probable).

Centre County’s seven-day moving average for new cases is 13.7, up from 8.4 a week ago and its highest average since March 8.

Pennsylvania reported more than 1,000 new positives for the third consecutive day 20 consecutive days below that mark. The 1,057 new cases bring the statewide total to 2,788,744.

The commonwealth’s seven-day average is 814, up from 625 a week ago and the highest since March 13.

Hospitalizations

Two COVID-19 inpatients are hospitalized in Centre County, unchanged from Friday, with one in intensive care and on a ventilator, according to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard.

Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their lowest level since July 26. According to the DOH dashboard, 408 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Pennsylvania, two fewer than on Friday, with 58 in intensive care [-1] and 44 on ventilators.

Deaths

DOH reported no new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents, keeping the total at 347.

With 13 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, the statewide total is now 44,417.

Positivity rate

Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of April 1-7 was 4.8%, up from 2.9% the previous seven days and marking an increase for the first time in 13 weeks, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was ninth highest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

The county had 66 new cases for that seven-day period, 21 more than the prior week, or an increase of 32%.

The statewide positivity rate was 4%, up from 3.1% the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 4,075 new positives between April 1-7, 713 more than the prior week.

Community level

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

Introduced on Feb. 25, community levels measure not only new cases, but also new hospitalizations and local hospital capacity to determine mitigation guidelines. At the low level, there is no recommendation for indoor masking.

Statewide, 64 of 67 counties are at the low level, with Bradford, Sullivan and Susquehanna at the medium level. 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.

Cases among children

DOH did not update child case data this week. For the week of March 23-29, there were five new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and seven in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 23% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.

Since Aug. 16, there have been 3,344 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 691 between the ages of 0-4 and 2,653 between the ages of 5 and 18 — representing about 19% of all cases during that time.

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.

Prison cases

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

Inmate and staff vaccination data was not available on Saturday.

Vaccinations

As of Saturday morning, 94,985 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 23 since Friday, and 14,227 are partially covered [+1]. Booster doses have been administered to 50,088 county residents [+36].

Among the county’s entire population, 70% have received at least one dose, 59.5% are fully vaccinated and 51.5% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 75.3% have received at least one dose, 63.7% are fully vaccinated and 54.1% have received a booster.

Statewide, 77.3% of adults and 67.9% 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 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: 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): 8,619 confirmed [+3], 1,203 probable [+3]

16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 6,219 confirmed [+3], 573 probable

16803 (State College): 3,251 confirmed [+4], 669 probable [+2]

16866 (Philipsburg): 2,084 confirmed, 297 probable

16802 (University Park): 1,851 confirmed [+2], 281 probable [+1]

16870 (Port Matilda): 1,292 confirmed [+1], 170 probable

16841 (Howard): 1,086 confirmed [+1], 100 probable

16828 (Centre Hall): 786 confirmed, 81 probable

16827 (Boalsburg): 743 confirmed, 101 probable

16875 (Spring Mills): 650 confirmed, 73 probable

16844 (Julian): 541 confirmed, 52 probable

16845 (Karthaus): 520 confirmed, 35 probable

16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 299 confirmed, 29 probable

16853 (Milesburg): 286 confirmed, 20 probable

16874 (Snow Shoe): 279 confirmed, 38 probable

16826 (Blanchard): 245 confirmed, 16 probable

16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 223 confirmed, 22 probable

16820 (Aaronsburg): 193 confirmed, 25 probable

16829 (Clarence): 181 confirmed [+1], 25 probable

16854 (Millheim): 181 confirmed, 15 probable

16872 (Rebersburg): 167 confirmed, 16 probable

16851 (Lemont): 159 confirmed, 27 probable

16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 100 confirmed, 11 probable

16859 (Moshannon): 98 confirmed, 6 probable

16832 (Coburn): 90 confirmed, 9 probable

16677 (Sandy Ridge): 81 confirmed, 5 probable

16835 (Fleming): 59 confirmed, 8 probable

16856 (Mingoville): 51 confirmed, 10 probable

16852 (Madisonburg): 49 confirmed, 5 probable

16882 (Woodward): 40 confirmed, 5 confirmed

16804 (State College): 20 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed

16863 (Orviston): 20 confirmed

16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed

Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties

Blair: 29,654 [+8]

Clearfield: 19,275

Mifflin: 12,273 [+4]

Union: 11,683

Huntingdon: 11,504 [+8]

Clinton: 9,034