Editor’s note: Because of a change in Pennsylvania Department of Health public reporting, StateCollege.com will no longer provide daily COVID-19 data updates. We will publish a weekly update coinciding with the release of new data from DOH.
Centre County remains at the “low” community level for COVID-19 for the ninth consecutive week, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s latest weekly update on Thursday.
Statewide, 56 of 67 counties are at the low level, eight fewer than last week as new cases and hospitalizations continue to rise. Bradford, Montour, Sullivan and Susquehanna are at the high level, while Lackawanna, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Snyder, Union, Wayne and Wyoming are at the medium level.
Community levels measure new cases, hospitalizations and local hospital capacity to determine mitigation guidelines. At the low level, there is no recommendation for indoor masking and at the medium level masks are recommended only for those with increased risk of severe illness. At the high level, universal indoor masking in places open to the public is recommended.
At the low level, a community 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.
Health department moves to weekly updates
As of Thursday, the Pennsylvania Department of Health is no longer providing daily COVID-19 data updates, including cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccination numbers. Instead, the department now will provide weekly updates on Wednesdays.
Data was last updated on Wednesday and the next update will be provided on May 11.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is not over and Department of Health staff are continually monitoring COVID-19 trends to gain a more accurate and comprehensive picture of what is occurring across the commonwealth,” DOH spokesperson Mark O’Neill said. “The shift to weekly updates will provide more meaningful trends as we anticipate fluctuations in data during this phase of the pandemic.”
At least 40 other states have shifted away from daily updates, O’Neill said.
Centre County’s current seven-day moving average for new COVID-19 cases is 26, a 30% increase over the last two weeks. The county has had a total of 35,736 cases (31,664 confirmed and 4,072 probable).
Pennsylvania’s seven-day average is 2,133, a 60% increase over the last two weeks. The commonwealth’s case total since March 2020 is 2,827,882.
Hospitalizations
Mount Nittany Medical Center has five COVID-19 inpatients, seven fewer than on Wednesday, with none in intensive care or on ventilators.
The patients range in age from 28 to 97, according to the hospital’s COVID inpatient dashboard. Three are fully vaccinated and two are not vaccinated.
As of Wednesday, COVID-19 hospitalizations throughout Pennsylvania had increased for five consecutive day. Statewide, 758 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized with 81 in intensive care and 36 on ventilators, according to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard. Hospitalizations have increased by 55% over the last month and are at their highest level in seven weeks.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of April 27-May 3 was 8.9%, up from 7.3% the previous seven days, according to the early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was 30th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 129 new cases for that seven-day period, 15 more than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was 10.7%, up from 8% the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 11,238 new positives between April 27 and May 3, 2,389 more than the prior week.
Vaccinations
As of Wednesday, 95,521 people in Centre County were fully vaccinated and 14,218 were partially covered. First booster doses had been administered to 50,756 county residents [+146] and 5,082 received a second booster [+615].
Among the county’s entire population, 70.4% have received at least one dose, 59.9% are fully vaccinated and 52% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 75.8% have received at least one dose, 64.1% are fully vaccinated and 54.6% have received a booster.
Statewide, 78% of adults and 68.5% 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. 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: Cases by zip code are as of Wednesday, May 4. 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): 8,759 confirmed, 1,248 probable
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 6,276 confirmed, 575 probable
16803 (State College): 3,330 confirmed, 704 probable
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,111 confirmed, 298 probable
16802 (University Park): 1,872 confirmed, 304 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,312 confirmed, 172 probable
16841 (Howard): 1,095 confirmed, 100 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 802 confirmed, 83 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 754 confirmed, 103 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 653 confirmed, 74 probable
16844 (Julian): 545 confirmed, 53 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 521 confirmed, 35 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 302 confirmed, 29 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 287 confirmed, 20 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 280 confirmed, 38 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 249 confirmed, 16 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 237 confirmed, 24 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 195 confirmed, 26 probable
16829 (Clarence): 183 confirmed, 25 probable
16854 (Millheim): 183 confirmed, 16 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 170 confirmed, 16 probable
16851 (Lemont): 162 confirmed, 30 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 103 confirmed, 11 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 99 confirmed, 6 probable
16832 (Coburn): 91 confirmed, 9 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 82 confirmed, 5 probable
16835 (Fleming): 60 confirmed, 8 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 51 confirmed, 10 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 50 confirmed, 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
Blair: 29,807
Clearfield: 19,438
Mifflin: 12,328
Union: 11,797
Huntingdon: 11,568
Clinton: 9,096
