Centre County stayed at the low community level for COVID-19 for the second consecutive week as new cases of the virus continued to decline, according to the Centers for Disease Control’s latest update on Thursday night.
At the low level, the CDC recommends wearing a mask if symptomatic, if an individual has tested positive for COVID-19 or has been exposed to someone who has, and when on public transportation, but does not recommend universal indoor masking in public places.
Statewide, four of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties, including neighboring Mifflin, are at the high level, two fewer than last week. Thirty-three are at the low level [+10] and 30 are at medium [-8].
Hospitalizations and cases
For a county to be at the low level, it 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.
Centre County had a case rate of 97.3 per 100,000 people, down from 139.79 last week, and 9.1 new COVID admissions per 100,000, with 5.6% of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 inpatients, up from 4.8%.
Mount Nittany Medical Center had 15 COVID-19 inpatients on Friday, according to its inpatient dashboard, with none in intensive care or on ventilators. The patients range in age from 38 to 88. For the week of Sept. 17-23, Mount Nittany had an average daily COVID inpatient census of 15, up from 14.4 last week.
As of the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s latest weekly update on Wednesday, 1,186 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide, 40 more than a week ago, with 141 in intensive care [+3] and 68 on ventilators [+7].
Centre County added 158 reported new cases in the last week, a 30% decrease from the previous seven days, according to DOH data.
The seven-day rolling average for new cases is 22.6 down from 32.4.
The county has had a total of 41,243 COVID-19 cases (36,708 confirmed and 4,535 probable) since March 2020.
Pennsylvania registered 15,205 reported new positives over the last week, an 20% decrease from a week ago. The rolling seven-day average of 2,172 is down from 2,711 the prior week.
The statewide case total since the start of the pandemic is now 3,254,503.
Deaths
DOH recorded no new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents in the last week, keeping the total at 371.
With 115 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry in the last week, the statewide total is now 47,213.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Sept. 21-27 was 12.1%, down from 16.1%, the previous seven days, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was tied for 14th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The statewide positivity rate was 13%, down from 14.2% the prior week.
Vaccinations
As of Wednesday morning, 98,046 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated, an increase of 165 since Sept. 21, and 15,212 are partially covered [-41]. First booster doses have been administered to 54,432 county residents [+67] and 13,042 have received a second booster [+22].
Among the county’s entire population, 72.9% have received at least one dose, 61.5% are fully vaccinated and 54.5% are fully vaccinated with a booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 77.7% have received at least one dose, 65.5% are fully vaccinated and 56.3% have received a booster.
Statewide, 80.2% of adults and 70.8% of the total population are fully vaccinated, while at least one booster dose has been administered to 47.1% of adults and 44.6% of the total population.
Vaccination appointments are available through pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
Vaccine providers have begun administering updated COVID-19 booster vaccines. The vaccines, which provide additional protection against the original coronavirus and Omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, were recently approved by the CDC after receiving emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.
The new Pfizer vaccine is available to individuals 12 years of age and older, while the new Moderna booster shot is available to people 18 years of age and older. Individuals must have already received their primary vaccination series — two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson — to be eligible for the new updated 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): 10,009 confirmed [+36], 1,377 probable [+4]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 7,179 confirmed [+27], 641 probable [+9]
16803 (State College): 4,226 confirmed [+16], 842 probable [+3]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,463 confirmed [+10], 330 probable [+1]
16802 (University Park): 2,063 confirmed [+3], 313 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,586 confirmed [+15], 209 probable [+3]
16841 (Howard): 1,249 confirmed [+4], 113 probable [+2]
16827 (Boalsburg): 960 confirmed [+6], 124 probable [+1]
16828 (Centre Hall): 954 confirmed [+1], 95 probable [+2]
16875 (Spring Mills): 757 confirmed [+3], 82 probable
16844 (Julian): 617 confirmed [+4], 57 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 546 confirmed [+5], 32 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 337 confirmed [+1], 20 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 331 confirmed [+1], 31 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 316 confirmed [+3], 41 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 283 confirmed [+1],17 probable [+1]
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 270 confirmed, 29 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 210 confirmed [+1], 29 probable
16829 (Clarence): 205 confirmed [+2], 25 probable
16854 (Millheim): 204 confirmed [+2], 18 probable
16851 (Lemont): 203 confirmed, 30 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 190 confirmed, 17 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 125 confirmed, 13 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 113 confirmed [+1], 6 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 107 confirmed, 6 probable
16832 (Coburn): 100 confirmed [+1], 10 probable
16835 (Fleming): 69 confirmed, 8 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 56 confirmed, 12 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 56 confirmed, 5 probable
16882 (Woodward): 49 confirmed, 5 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 22 confirmed
16804 (State College): 21 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 33,167 [+149] Low Community Level
Clearfield: 22,314 [+147] Low Community Level
Mifflin: 13,937 [+101] High Community Level
Union: 12,795 [+24] Medium Community Level
Huntingdon: 12,969 [+76] Medium Community Level
Clinton: 10,358 [+51] Medium Community Level
