Centre County registered one new COVID-19 death and 308 more cases on Friday, while statewide hospitalizations for the virus and new infections continued to surge to record levels.
The death is Centre County’s 295th attributed to COVID-19 and sixth reported in 2022. The new cases — which mark the county’s second largest increase of the pandemic — bring its total to 27,748 (25,129 confirmed and 2,619 probable).
Pennsylvania reported 32,053 new positives, shattering the previous daily record of 28,018 set on Wednesday, to bring the statewide total to 2,206,899. The commonwealth’s 10 largest single-day case increases have occurred in the last 10 days.
With 156 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, Pennsylvania’s total is now 37,522.
For the second consecutive day, Pennsylvania hospitals had a record number of COVID-19 inpatients. Statewide, 6,680 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized, 234 more than on Thursday, with 1,071 COVID patients in intensive care [+14] and 648 on ventilators [+7].
In Centre County, Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 45 COVID-positive inpatients, unchanged from Thursday, with four in intensive care [+1] and four on ventilators [+2].
The patients range in age from 29 to 88, according to Mount Nittany’s COVID-19 inpatient dashboard. Twelve are fully vaccinated and 33 are not vaccinated.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Dec. 31-Jan. 6 was 30.7%, up from 23.2% the previous seven days, according to DOH’s updated early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was 36th among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 1,404 new cases for that seven-day period, 431 more than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was 34.1%, up from 24.7%, the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 137,449 new positives between Dec. 31-Jan. 6, 55,671 more than the prior week.
Transmission level
All 67 counties in Pennsylvania are at the highest level for community transmission of COVID-19 on the Centers for Disease Control scale, according to the latest county-level data update.
Transmission levels are based on positivity rate and cases per 100,000 people for the previous seven days. At the substantial and high levels, CDC guidance recommends all people, regardless of vaccination status, wear masks in public indoor settings.
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 Dec. 29-Jan. 4, there were 45 new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and 217 in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 20% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.
Since Aug. 16, there have been 1,759 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 299 between the ages of 0-4 and 1,460 between the ages of 5 and 18 — representing about 19% of all cases during that time.
Prison cases
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Benner state prison has two active COVID-19 cases among inmates, one more than on Thursday, and 24 among staff.
Rockview state prison has five active inmate cases and 46 among staff [+2].
Both facilities are in Benner Township.
At Benner, 1,506 inmates are fully vaccinated, 12 are partially vaccinated and 192 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 306 are fully vaccinated [-2] and 322 [+2] are not vaccinated.
Rockview has 1,686 inmates who are fully vaccinated, one who is partially vaccinated and 61 who are not vaccinated. Among staff, 340 are fully vaccinated and 377 are not vaccinated.
Vaccinations
As of Friday morning, 91,525 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 87 since Thursday, and 13,176 are partially covered [+92]. Booster doses have been administered to 37,967 county residents [+263].
Among the county’s entire population, 66.5% have received at least one dose and 57.2% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 71.8% have received at least one dose and 61.7% are fully vaccinated.
Statewide, 74.4% of adults and 64.2% of the total population are fully vaccinated.
Vaccination appointments through Centre Volunteers in Medicine, Mount Nittany Health and through other pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov. CVIM and Penn State also will host a vaccine clinic for ages 12 and older from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday at the Bryce Jordan Center
All individuals age 12 and older are now 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): 7,561 confirmed [+95], 696 probable [-25]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 4,834 confirmed [+49], 437 probable [-2]
16803 (State College): 2,560 confirmed [+99], 378 probable [-18]
16802 (University Park): 1,694 confirmed [+12], 95 probable [-5]
16866 (Philipsburg): 1,547 confirmed [+10], 254 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 976 confirmed [+20], 127 probable [-2]
16841 (Howard): 847 confirmed [+9], 86 probable [+1]
16828 (Centre Hall): 597 confirmed [+6], 62 probable [+1]
16827 (Boalsburg): 579 confirmed [+21], 73 probable [-3]
16875 (Spring Mills): 545 confirmed [+6], 63 probable [-1]
16844 (Julian): 452 confirmed [+7], 47 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 412 confirmed [+4], 31 probable [+1]
16853 (Milesburg): 232 confirmed [+3], 13 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 225 confirmed [+2], 34 probable [+2]
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 222 confirmed [+3], 25 probable [-2]
16826 (Blanchard): 192 confirmed, 13 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 167 confirmed [+5], 13 probable [-2]
16854 (Millheim): 144 confirmed [+1], 13 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 142 confirmed [+1], 25 probable
16829 (Clarence): 138 confirmed [+3], 24 probable [-3]
16872 (Rebersburg): 124 confirmed [+5], 12 probable [-1]
16851 (Lemont): 117 confirmed [+2], 23 probable [+1]
16859 (Moshannon): 81 confirmed [+1], 5 probable
16832 (Coburn): 68 confirmed [+1], 7 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 61 confirmed, 7 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 57 confirmed, 1-4 probable
16835 (Fleming): 51 confirmed [+2], 8 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 43 confirmed [+1], 10 probable [+1]
16852 (Madisonburg): 36 confirmed, 5 probable
16882 (Woodward): 32 confirmed [+1], 1-4 confirmed
16804 (State College): 17 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 16 confirmed [+1]
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 23,699 [+110]
Clearfield: 15,003 [+113]
Mifflin: 9,572 [+101]
Union: 9,293 [+82]
Huntingdon: 8,813 [+64]
Clinton: 7,117 [+78]
