Centre County recorded 55 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday to bring its total to 34,492, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
Among total cases, 30,648 are confirmed and 3,844 are probable.
The county’s seven-day moving average for new cases is 40, down from 57 a week ago and 93 two weeks ago.
Pennsylvania reported 4,277 new positives to increase the statewide total to 2,742,752.
It was the commonwealth’s most new cases in a week but the statewide seven-day average continues to trend downward. The moving seven-day average is 2,908, down from 3,593 a week ago and 6,856 two weeks ago.
Hospitalizations
According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 26 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Centre County, four more than on Friday, with none in intensive care or on ventilators for the sixth consecutive day.
Mount Nittany Medical Center reported on Friday that its average daily COVID-19 census in February is 34 and for the past week 28. That’s down substantially from the average daily COVID census of 45 in January and 57 in December.
“Our average daily count of COVID-19 positive admissions has decreased significantly, allowing for a number of our services to resume, including outpatient surgery and an increasing number of surgeries that require an overnight stay,” Dr. Tiffany Cabibbo, executive vice president for patient care services and chief nursing officer, said in a statement. “Although community transmission has slowed, it is important that we continue to be vigilant against COVID-19. We encourage everyone to continue to do their part.”
Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations fell below 2,000 for the first time since Sept. 6. According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 1,976 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Pennsylvania, 158 fewer than on Friday, with 373 patients in intensive care [-21] and 219 on ventilators [-27].
The commonwealth had 2,481 average daily COVID-19-specific hospitalizations for the week of Feb. 11-17, down from 3,426 a week earlier, according to the updated DOH early warning monitoring dashboard.
Deaths
DOH did not update COVID-19 death data on Saturday. As of Friday, Pennsylvania has had 42,686 deaths attributed to the virus, including 333 among Centre County residents.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Feb. 11-17 was 10%, down from 12.9% the previous seven days and marking a decline for the sixth consecutive week, according to the monitoring dashboard. The rate was 16th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The county had 243 new cases for that seven-day period, 98 fewer than the prior week.
The statewide positivity rate was 9.7%, down from 12.7% the previous seven days. The commonwealth had 15,742 new positives between Feb. 11-17, 7,244 fewer than the prior week.
Transmission level
Centre County remains 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.
Statewide, 65 of 67 counties are at the high level, with Delaware and Lehigh counties listed as substantial, the second highest level on the CDC scale.
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 Feb. 9-15, there were 31 new cases among children in the 0-4 age group and 36 in the 5-18 age group in Centre County. About 22% of all cases in Centre County that week were among children 0-18.
Since Aug. 16, there have been 3,200 cases among individuals between the ages of 0 and 18 in Centre County — 640 between the ages of 0-4 and 2,560 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 773 resident cases, 746 employee cases and 182 resident deaths.
Prison cases
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Benner state prison has 10 active COVID-19 cases among inmates, one more than on Friday, and nine among staff [-2].
Rockview state prison has one active inmate case and four among staff [+1].
Both facilities are in Benner Township.
At Benner, 1,470 inmates are fully vaccinated, 18 are partially vaccinated and 188 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 314 are fully vaccinated and 314 are not vaccinated.
Rockview has 1,701 inmates who are fully vaccinated and 63 who are not vaccinated. Among staff, 349 are fully vaccinated [+3] and 368 are not vaccinated [-3].
Vaccinations
DOH did not update vaccination data on Saturday. As of Friday, 93,863 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated and 14,055 are partially covered. Booster doses have been administered to 48,266 county residents.
Among the county’s entire population, 69.2% have received at least one dose, 58.9% are fully vaccinated and 50.3% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 74.5% have received at least one dose, 63.1% are fully vaccinated and 52.9% have received a booster.
Statewide, 76.2% of adults and 66.7% 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): 8,482 confirmed [+7], 1,156 probable [+9]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 6,091 confirmed [+5], 563 probable [+4]
16803 (State College): 3,180 confirmed [+8], 640 probable [+3]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,024 confirmed [+2], 295 probable
16802 (University Park): 1,829 confirmed [+2], 269 probable [+1]
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,247 confirmed [+2], 169 probable
16841 (Howard): 1,057 confirmed [+3], 97 probable [+1]
16828 (Centre Hall): 776 confirmed, 80 probable [+1]
16827 (Boalsburg): 719 confirmed, 100 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 641 confirmed, 73 probable
16844 (Julian): 536 confirmed [+1], 52 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 512 confirmed [+1], 35 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 291 confirmed, 29 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 279 confirmed [+1], 20 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 272 confirmed, 36 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 242 confirmed, 16 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 218 confirmed, 21 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 183 confirmed [+1], 26 probable
16829 (Clarence): 177 confirmed, 24 probable
16854 (Millheim): 175 confirmed, 16 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 163 confirmed, 16 probable
16851 (Lemont): 158 confirmed [+1], 25 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 96 confirmed, 6 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 93 confirmed, 11 probable
16832 (Coburn): 88 confirmed, 8 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 80 confirmed, 6 probable
16835 (Fleming): 59 confirmed, 8 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 51 confirmed, 10 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 43 confirmed, 5 probable
16882 (Woodward): 39 confirmed, 5 confirmed
16804 (State College): 20 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 19 confirmed
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 29,177 [+35]
Clearfield: 18,883 [+36]
Mifflin: 12,106 [+10]
Union: 11,471 [+22]
Huntingdon: 11,313 [+19]
Clinton: 8,911 [+12]
