Centre County Stays at Low COVID-19 Community Level as Cases Rise

Centre County remained at the low community level for COVID-19 for the 12th consecutive week as new cases rose locally and statewide for the second straight 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.

Statewide, six of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties — Bradford, Franklin, Fulton, Mercer, Sullivan, Susquehanna — are at the high level, five more than last week. Nevertheless, the number of counties at low increased by five to 41, and 20 are at medium [-10].

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 105.92 per 100,000 people (up from 67.12 last week) and 6.3 new COVID admissions per 100,000 (down from 6.7), with 4.5% of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 inpatients (down from 6.2%).

The county added 172 reported new cases in the last week, 63 more than the previous seven days, according to Pennsylvania Department of Health data. The seven-day rolling average for new cases was 24.5, up from 15.6.

A total of 42,541 COVID-19 cases (37,924 confirmed and 4,617 probable) have been reported among Centre County residents since March 2020.

Mount Nittany Medical Center had seven COVID-19 inpatients on Friday, according to its inpatient dashboard, with none in intensive care or on ventilators. The patients range in age from 50 to 94. For the week of Dec. 3-9, Mount Nittany had an average daily COVID inpatient census of 10.4, down from 11.8 last week.

STATEWIDE

Pennsylvania registered 13,936 reported new positives over the last week, a 23% increase over new cases a week ago. The rolling seven-day average of 1,991 is up from 1,533 the prior week.

The commonwealth’s case total since the start of the pandemic is now 3,374,733.

According to the DOH data, 1,264 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide as of Wednesday, five fewer than a week ago, with 154 in intensive care [-8] and 56 on ventilators [-4].

DEATHS
DOH recorded two new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents in the last week, bringing the total to 381.

With 140 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry in the last week, the statewide total is now 48,527.

POSITIVITY RATE
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6 was 11.6%, up from 10.8% the previous seven days, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was the 22nd highest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

The statewide positivity rate was 10.9%, up from 9.9% the prior week.

VACCINATIONS
As of Wednesday morning, 101,657 people in Centre County have completed the primary vaccination series, an increase of 205 since Nov. 30, and 13,373 are partially covered [-73]. Bivalent booster doses have been administered to 24,922 county residents [+950].

Among the county’s entire population, 74.5% have received at least one dose and 63.3% have completed the primary vaccine series, while 16.6% of eligible residents (age 5 and older) have received the bivalent booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 79.4% have received at least one dose, 67.1% have completed the primary series and 17.8% have received the bivalent booster booster.

Statewide, 82% of adults and 72.7% of the total population have completed the primary series, while the bivalent booster has been administered to 17.2% of adults and 15.1% 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): 10,242 confirmed [+39], 1,402 probable [+3]

16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 7,467 confirmed [+33], 655 probable [+3]

16803 (State College): 4,377 confirmed [+28], 860 probable [+5]

16866 (Philipsburg): 2,643 confirmed [+22], 338 probable [+2]

16802 (University Park): 2,079 confirmed [+8], 314 probable

16870 (Port Matilda): 1,658 confirmed [+6], 214 probable

16841 (Howard): 1,298 confirmed [+4], 115 probable [+3]

16827 (Boalsburg): 1,004 confirmed [+1], 126 probable

16828 (Centre Hall): 989 confirmed [+3], 100 probable [+2]

16875 (Spring Mills): 794 confirmed [+5], 83 probable

16844 (Julian): 637 confirmed [+1], 58 probable

16845 (Karthaus): 563 confirmed, 32 probable

16853 (Milesburg): 348 confirmed [+3], 20 probable

16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 339 confirmed, 32 probable

16874 (Snow Shoe): 331 confirmed [+3], 41 probable

16826 (Blanchard): 294 confirmed, 18 probable [+1]

16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 280 confirmed [+1], 29 probable

16820 (Aaronsburg): 219 confirmed, 28 probable

16851 (Lemont): 213 confirmed [+2], 33 probable

16829 (Clarence): 210 confirmed [+1], 25 probable

16854 (Millheim): 208 confirmed, 18 probable

16872 (Rebersburg): 194 confirmed [+1], 17 probable

16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 127 confirmed, 13 probable

16859 (Moshannon): 120 confirmed [+1], 6 probable

16677 (Sandy Ridge): 112 confirmed, 6 probable

16832 (Coburn): 105 confirmed, 11 probable

16835 (Fleming): 72 confirmed [+1], 7 probable

16852 (Madisonburg): 58 confirmed [+1], 5 probable

16856 (Mingoville): 57 confirmed, 12 probable

16882 (Woodward): 49 confirmed, 5 confirmed

16804 (State College): 24 confirmed [+1], 1-4 confirmed

16863 (Orviston): 22 confirmed

16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed

CASES AMONG CENTRE COUNTY’S BORDERING COUNTIES

Blair: 34,068 [+84] Low Community Level

Clearfield: 23,247 [+93] Low Community Level

Mifflin: 14,516 [+55] Medium Community Level

Union: 13,195 [+46] Medium Community Level

Huntingdon: 13,357 [+40] Medium Community Level

Clinton: 10,747 [+45] Medium Community Level