Centre County recorded 18 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday as infection rates continue to plummet locally and statewide.
The new cases bring the county’s total to 34,838 (30,952 confirmed and 3,886 probable), according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Centre County’s seven-day moving average for new cases is 20, down from 29 a week ago and 93 a month ago. The average is the county’s lowest since Aug. 19.
Pennsylvania registered 1,158 new cases to bring the statewide total to 2,762,855.
The commonwealth’s seven-day average is 1,047, down from 1,824 a week ago and 6,856 a month ago. The statewide average is the lowest since Aug. 1.
Hospitalizations
According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 13 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Centre County, with one in intensive care and none on ventilators.
Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their lowest level since Aug. 15. According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 1,089 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Pennsylvania, 67 fewer than on Friday, with 199 patients in intensive care [-25] and 122 on ventilators [-6].
Deaths
DOH did not update COVID-19 death numbers on Saturday. Through Friday, the commonwealth has had 43,525 deaths attributed to the virus since March 2020, including 343 in Centre County.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Feb. 25-March 3 was 5.3%, down from 8.6% the previous seven days and marking a decline for the eighth consecutive week, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was 23rd among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 113 new cases for that seven-day period, 81 fewer than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was 4.6%, down from 6.5% the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 6,744 new positives between Feb. 25-March 3, 3,581 fewer than the prior week.
Community level
Centre County is at the medium COVID-19 community level, according to the CDC’s update on Thursday.
Introduced on Feb. 25, community levels measure not only new cases, but also new hospitalizations and local hospital capacity. At the medium and low levels, there is no recommendation for indoor masking except for those with increased risk of severe illness.
Because of Centre County’s move from high to medium level, COVID-19 mask ordinances are no longer in effect in State College and Patton Township. Penn State also lifted some of its masking requirements on campus.
Eight of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties remain at the high community level this week, at which indoor masking is recommended: Columbia, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties.
County levels are expected to next be updated on March 10.
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 Feb. 23-March 1, there were 11 new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and 27 in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 29% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.
Since Aug. 16, there have been 3,293 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 673 between the ages of 0-4 and 2,620 between the ages of 5 and 18 — representing about 19% of all cases during that time.
Nursing and personal care home cases
Long-term care facilities in Centre County reported no new COVID-19 cases among residents or employees. A total of 20 nursing and personal care homes in the county have had a combined 778 resident cases, 754 employee cases and 182 resident deaths.
Prison cases
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Benner state prison has one active COVID-19 cases among inmates, one fewer than on Friday, and six among staff.
Rockview state prison has no active inmate cases and one among staff.
Both facilities are in Benner Township.
At Benner, 1,448 inmates are fully vaccinated, 10 are partially vaccinated and 195 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 314 are fully vaccinated and 314 are not vaccinated.
Rockview has 1,698 inmates who are fully vaccinated and 62 who are not vaccinated. Among staff, 352 are fully vaccinated and 365 are not vaccinated.
Vaccinations
DOH did not update vaccination numbers on Saturday. As of Friday morning, 94,287 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated and 14,099 are partially covered. Booster doses have been administered to 48,954 county residents.
Among the county’s entire population, 69.4% have received at least one dose, 59.1% are fully vaccinated and 50.8% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 74.8% have received at least one dose, 63.3% are fully vaccinated and 53.4% have received a booster.
Statewide, 76.7% of adults and 67.2% 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 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): 8,534 confirmed [+2], 1,178 probable
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 6,175 confirmed [+1], 569 probable
16803 (State College): 3,206 confirmed [+4], 646 probable
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,049 confirmed [+4], 297 probable
16802 (University Park): 1,837 confirmed, 274 probable [+1]
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,270 confirmed, 169 probable
16841 (Howard): 1,075 confirmed [+1], 99 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 778 confirmed [+1], 81 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 735 confirmed [+1], 101 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 646 confirmed, 73 probable
16844 (Julian): 540 confirmed [+1], 52 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 517 confirmed, 35 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 293 confirmed, 29 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 285 confirmed, 20 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 273 confirmed, 37 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 243 confirmed, 16 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 222 confirmed, 21 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 191 confirmed [+2], 25 probable [-1]
16829 (Clarence): 179 confirmed, 24 probable
16854 (Millheim): 178 confirmed [+1], 15 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 165 confirmed, 16 probable
16851 (Lemont): 158 confirmed, 25 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 98 confirmed, 6 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 97 confirmed [+1], 11 probable
16832 (Coburn): 90 confirmed, 8 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 80 confirmed, 6 probable
16835 (Fleming): 59 confirmed, 8 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 51 confirmed, 10 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 45 confirmed [+2], 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: 29,456 [+13]
Clearfield: 19,113 [+15]
Mifflin: 12,208 [+5]
Union: 11,608 [+8]
Huntingdon: 11,430 [+4]
Clinton: 8,989 [+2]
