Centre County recorded eight new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, its fourth single-digit increase in the last week and 10th this month.
The new cases bring the county’s total to 35,039 (31,117 confirmed and 3,922 probable) since March 2020, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Centre County’s seven-day moving average for new cases is eight, according to DOH, down from 11 a week ago and 29 a month ago.
Pennsylvania reported fewer than 1,000 new positives for the 15th time in 16 days. The 660 new cases bring the statewide total to 2,778,646.
The commonwealth’s seven-day average is 591, down from 710 a week ago and 1,704 a month ago.
Hospitalizations
Two COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Centre County, unchanged from Friday, with none in intensive care or on ventilators, according to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard.
Local COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their lowest since June 2021.
Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their lowest level since Aug. 2. According to the Department of Health hospital preparedness dashboard, 516 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Pennsylvania, 15 fewer than on Friday, with 80 in intensive care [-3] and 51 on ventilators [-3].
Deaths
DOH reported no new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents for the 11th consecutive day, keeping the total at 345.
With 28 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, the statewide total is now 44,208.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of March 18-24 was 2.9%, down from 3% the previous seven days and marking a decline for the 11th consecutive week, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was 34th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 50 new cases for that seven-day period, five fewer than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was also 2.9% and down from 3% the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 3,193 new positives between March 18-24, 994 fewer than the prior week.
Community level
Centre County remains at the “low” community level for COVID-19 for the third 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, 60 of 67 counties are at the low level, with Bradford, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Snyder, Susquehanna and Union counties 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
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 March 16-22, there were two new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and six in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 15% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.
Since Aug. 16, there have been 3,333 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 686 between the ages of 0-4 and 2,647 between the ages of 5 and 18 — representing about 19% of all cases during that time.
Prison cases
Rockview state prison has no COVID-19 cases among inmates or staff, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections.
Centre County’s other state prison, Benner, has one case among inmates and one among staff.
At Benner, 1,424 inmates are fully vaccinated, 18 are partially vaccinated and 189 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 314 are fully vaccinated and 314 are not vaccinated.
Rockview has 1,716 inmates who are fully vaccinated, three who are partially vaccinated and 87 who are not vaccinated. Among staff, 349 are fully vaccinated and 368 are not vaccinated.
Vaccinations
As of Saturday morning, 94,685 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 20 since Friday, and 14,201 are partially covered [+10]. Booster doses have been administered to 49,677 county residents [+43]
Among the county’s entire population, 69.7% have received at least one dose, 59.3% are fully vaccinated and 51.2% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 75.1% have received at least one dose, 63.4% are fully vaccinated and 53.8% have received a booster.
Statewide, 77% of adults and 67.5% 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.
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): 8,575 confirmed, 1,192 probable [+2]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 6,196 confirmed [+1], 571 probable
16803 (State College): 3,233 confirmed [+1], 657 probable [-1]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,077 confirmed [+1], 297 probable
16802 (University Park): 1,844 confirmed, 278 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,282 confirmed [+1], 171 probable
16841 (Howard): 1,081 confirmed [+2], 100 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 785 confirmed, 81 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 741 confirmed [+1], 101 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 648 confirmed, 74 probable
16844 (Julian): 541 confirmed, 52 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 519 confirmed, 35 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 298 confirmed, 29 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 285 confirmed, 20 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 278 confirmed, 38 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 245 confirmed, 16 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 222 confirmed, 22 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 193 confirmed [+1], 25 probable
16854 (Millheim): 181 confirmed, 15 probable
16829 (Clarence): 180 confirmed, 25 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 165 confirmed, 16 probable
16851 (Lemont): 159 confirmed, 25 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 99 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): 39 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: 29,587 [+1]
Clearfield: 19,240 [+3]
Mifflin: 12,251 [+4]
Union: 11,670 [+1]
Huntingdon: 11,479 [+1]
Clinton: 9,025 [+2]
