Centre County has dropped to the “medium” community level for COVID-19, according to updated Centers for Disease Control data on Thursday.
The CDC introduced last week new metrics for determining mitigation guidelines that measure not only new cases, but also new hospitalizations and local hospital capacity. At the low and medium community levels there is no recommendation for indoor masking except for those at high risk for severe illness.
Centre County had been at the high level, at which universal indoor masking is recommended, for the first week of the new measures.
After reaching pandemic highs in December and early January, however, new cases and hospitalizations have dropped precipitously in Centre County and across Pennsylvania, hitting their lowest levels since early August.
Mount Nittany Medical Center had 12 COVID-19 inpatients on Thursday. The hospital had an average daily census of 57 COVID-19 inpatients in December and 45 in January.
The immediate impact of the change in community level on local mask requirements is not yet clear. At Penn State, where masks are required inside all university buildings, officials said this week they are “reviewing” the new guidelines.
State College Borough and Patton Township both have temporary ordinances that require masking in places open to the public. Both are based on the CDC’s previous masking guidelines that used new cases and positivity rates and were to be in effect while the county remained at the high or substantial levels of community transmission. The county is still in the substantial level of transmission by those measures.
Patton Township supervisors discussed potentially rescinding the ordinance during their meeting on Feb. 23, and expect to address the issue further at their March 9 meeting. State College Borough Council next meets on Monday.
State College Area School District still plans to lift its masking requirement no earlier than March 28, as previously discussed by the board and administrators, Superintendent Bob O’Donnell wrote in a message to families on Tuesday.
“In order for our district to shift to optional masking, we must first develop plans for our documented high-risk individuals in a setting with reduced masking,” O’Donnell wrote. “For that to happen properly, we need sufficient time.”
The board and members of the district’s health and safety team will further discuss the plan during a work session at 7 p.m. on March 17 at the Patton Township Municipal building. The meeting will be broadcast live on C-NET and will be accessible via Zoom.
Eight of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties remain at the high community level this week, including neighboring Huntingdon, Mifflin and Union counties, as well as Juniata, Snyder, Montour, Northumberland and Columbia counties.
County adds 1 COVID-19 death, 22 cases
Centre County recorded one new COVID-19 death and 22 cases of the virus on Thursday, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The death is the county’s 343rd attributed to the virus since March 2020 and fourth reported this month. The new cases bring the county’s total to 34,794 (30,914 confirmed and 3,880 probable).
Centre County’s seven-day moving average for new cases is 22, down from 36 a week ago and 45 two weeks ago. The average is the county’s lowest since Aug. 21.
Pennsylvania reported 1,219 new COVID-19 cases to bring the statewide total to 2760617
The commonwealth’s seven-day average is 1,323, down from 2,254 a week ago and 3,159 two weeks ago. The statewide average is the lowest since Aug. 4.
With 65 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry, the statewide total is 43,486.
Hospitalizations
Mount Nittany Medical Center has 12 COVID-19 inpatients, the lowest number since late August and five fewer than on Wednesday, with none in intensive care or on ventilators.
The patients range in age from 31 to 83, according to Mount Nittany’s COVID-19 inpatient dashboard. Three are fully vaccinated and nine are not vaccinated.
Statewide, COVID-19 hospitalizations fell to their lowest level since Aug. 17. According to the DOH hospital preparedness dashboard, 1,230 COVID-19 patients are hospitalized in Pennsylvania, 62 fewer than on Wednesday, with 223 patients in intensive care [-7] and 132 on ventilators [-11].
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 779 resident cases, 751 employee cases and 182 resident deaths.
Prison cases
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, Benner state prison has two active COVID-19 cases among inmates, one fewer than on Wednesday, and six among staff [+1].
Rockview state prison has no active inmate cases and one among staff.
Both facilities are in Benner Township.
At Benner, 1,462 inmates are fully vaccinated, 11 are partially vaccinated and 197 are not vaccinated. Among staff, 314 are fully vaccinated and 314 are not vaccinated.
Rockview has 1,686 inmates who are fully vaccinated and 62 who are not vaccinated. Among staff, 352 are fully vaccinated and 365 are not vaccinated.
Vaccinations
As of Thursday morning, 94,232 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 29 since Wednesday, and 14,093 are partially covered [+1]. Booster doses have been administered to 48,891 county residents [+52].
Among the county’s entire population, 69.4% have received at least one dose, 59.1% are fully vaccinated and 50.7% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 74.9% have received at least one dose, 63.2% are fully vaccinated and 53.4% have received a booster.
Statewide, 76.6% of adults and 67.1% 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): 8,524 confirmed [+2], 1,175 probable [+3]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 6,169 confirmed [+4], 568 probable
16803 (State College): 3,201 confirmed [+1], 645 probable [+3]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,044 confirmed, 297 probable [+1]
16802 (University Park): 1,836 confirmed [+4], 272 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,269 confirmed, 169 probable
16841 (Howard): 1,075 confirmed, 99 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 777 confirmed, 81 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 734 confirmed [+1], 101 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 646 confirmed, 73 probable
16844 (Julian): 539 confirmed, 52 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 517 confirmed, 35 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 292 confirmed, 29 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 285 confirmed [+1], 20 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 272 confirmed, 37 probable [+1]
16826 (Blanchard): 243 confirmed, 16 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 222 confirmed, 21 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 188 confirmed [+1], 26 probable
16829 (Clarence): 179 confirmed, 24 probable
16854 (Millheim): 177 confirmed, 15 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 165 confirmed, 16 probable
16851 (Lemont): 158 confirmed, 25 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 98 confirmed, 6 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 96 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): 43 confirmed, 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: 29,429 [+20]
Clearfield: 19,082 [+15]
Mifflin: 12,200 [+10]
Union: 11,581 [+14]
Huntingdon: 11,416 [+5]
Clinton: 8,981 [+3]
