Centre County stayed at the low community level for COVID-19 for the fourth consecutive week as local new cases ticked up but hospitalizations linked to the virus continued to fall, 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, three of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are at the high level, four fewer than last week. Twenty-eight are at the low level [-5] and 36 are at medium [+9].
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 87.45 per 100,000 people (up from 65.28 last week) and 4.9 new COVID admissions per 100,000 (down from 6.7), with 3.2% of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 inpatients (down from 4.7%).
Mount Nittany Medical Center had four COVID-19 inpatients on Thursday, according to its most recent inpatient dashboard update, with none in intensive care or on ventilators. The patients range in age from 46 to 86. For the week of Oct. 7-13, Mount Nittany had an average daily COVID inpatient census of 7.6, down from 10 last week.
As of the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s latest weekly update on Wednesday, 1,183 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide, 18 more than a week ago, with 139 in intensive care [+16] and 62 on ventilators [+6].
Centre County added 142 reported new cases in the last week, a 25% increase from the previous seven days, according to DOH data.
The seven-day rolling average for new cases is 20.2, up from 15.1.
The county has had a total of 41,491 COVID-19 cases (36,944 confirmed and 4,547 probable) since March 2020.
Pennsylvania registered 13,256 reported new positives over the last week, a 6% increase from a week ago. The rolling seven-day average of 1,894 is up from 1,776 the prior week.
The statewide case total since the start of the pandemic is now 3,280,190.
Deaths
DOH recorded two new deaths attributed to the virus among Centre County residents in the last week, bringing the total to 373.
With 119 new COVID-19 deaths identified by the Pennsylvania death registry in the last week, the statewide total is now 47,442.
Positivity rate
Centre County’s PCR testing positivity rate for the week of Oct. 5-11 was 10.5%, down from 10.9% the previous seven days, according to the DOH early warning monitoring dashboard. The rate was 17th lowest among Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The statewide positivity rate was 11.7%, down from 12.4% the prior week.
Vaccinations
As of Wednesday morning, 99,456 people in Centre County have completed the primary vaccination series, an increase of 307 since Oct. 5, and 14,401 are partially covered [-148]. Bivalent booster doses have been administered to 12,162 county residents [+1,915].
Among the county’s entire population, 73.4% have received at least one dose, 62.1% have completed the primary vaccine series and 55.1% have received at least one booster, according to the CDC. Among adult residents, 78.2% have received at least one dose, 66.1% have completed the primary series and 56.9% have received a booster.
Statewide, 80.7% of adults and 71.3% of the total population have completed the primary series, while at least one booster dose has been administered to 47.9% of adults and 45.4% of the total population.
Vaccination appointments are available through pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
Vaccine providers are now administering updated COVID-19 booster 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.
Last month, updated booster vaccines were approved for individuals 12 and older for the Pfizer vaccine and 18 and older for Moderna’s booster shot. On Wednesday, the CDC approved the Pfizer pediatric booster for ages 5-11 and the Moderna pediatric booster for ages 6-17.
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): 10,048 confirmed [+16], 1,381 probable [+2]
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 7,244 confirmed [+35], 643 probable [+4]
16803 (State College): 4,255 confirmed [+21], 845 probable [+2]
16866 (Philipsburg): 2,478 confirmed [+10], 331 probable [+1]
16802 (University Park): 2,064 confirmed, 313 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 1,601 confirmed [+10], 208 probable
16841 (Howard): 1,264 confirmed [+5], 111 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 967 confirmed [+1], 124 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 965 confirmed [+8], 95 probable [-2]
16875 (Spring Mills): 764 confirmed [+4], 82 probable
16844 (Julian): 623 confirmed [+4], 58 probable [+1]
16845 (Karthaus): 546 confirmed, 32 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 340 confirmed [+3], 20 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 333 confirmed [+1], 32 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 320 confirmed [+4], 41 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 286 confirmed [+1],17 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 271 confirmed, 29 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 213 confirmed [+1], 29 probable
16854 (Millheim): 207 confirmed [+1], 18 probable
16851 (Lemont): 205 confirmed [+2], 34 probable [+4]
16829 (Clarence): 205 confirmed, 25 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 190 confirmed, 17 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 126 confirmed [+1], 13 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 113 confirmed, 6 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 108 confirmed [+1], 6 probable
16832 (Coburn): 103 confirmed [+2], 10 probable
16835 (Fleming): 69 confirmed, 8 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 57 confirmed [+1], 6 probable [+1]
16856 (Mingoville): 56 confirmed, 12 probable
16882 (Woodward): 49 confirmed, 5 confirmed
16804 (State College): 22 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 22 confirmed
16805 (State College): 1-4 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 33,375 [+126] Low Community Level
Clearfield: 22,502 [+87] Low Community Level
Mifflin: 14,105 [+61] Medium Community Level
Union: 12,895 [+44] Medium Community Level
Huntingdon: 13,063 [+47] Medium Community Level
Clinton: 10,436 [+40] Low Community Level
