Centre County reported on Friday its first COVID-19 death in six weeks as well as eight new cases of the virus, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.
The county now has had 229 deaths attributed to the virus and 17,238 cases.
Pennsylvania registered 2,082 new positives on Friday to increase the statewide total to 1,246,014. With 16 new COVID-19 deaths statewide, Pennsylvania’s total is now 27,957.
The county also reported 78 negative test results for a total of 73,896. Statewide, there were 7,101 new negatives for a total of 4,997,328.
Centre County remains at the substantial level of community transmission — the second highest on the Centers for Disease Control scale — as of the CDC’s most recent county-level data update on Thursday afternoon. Neighboring Clearfield and Clinton counties were at the high level and Blair County also was at substantial.
Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 14 COVID-19 inpatients ranging in age from 43 to 88, a hospital spokesperson said.
So far in August, the medical center has had 29 COVID-positive admissions with an average daily census of 12. By comparison, in July MNMC had 37 COVID admissions and an average daily census of six.
“Due to the uptick in COVID hospitalizations, we have taken additional steps in our pandemic response plan to adjust operations to meet the needs of the community, including rescheduling some elective surgical case requiring an overnight admission,” Dr. Upendra Thaker, Mount Nittany Health chief medical officer, said in a statement. “This step is essential to ensure that we are serving our COVID positive inpatients and those needing us for acute and surgical care.”
The “vast majority” of COVID-19 inpatients at MNMC have not been vaccinated, Thaker added.
“The COVID vaccine is highly effective and our best defense against the transmission of COVID in our community,” he said. “We have vaccinated more than 45,000 people in our community, and we strongly encourage everyone to receive it.”
As of Friday morning, 78,710 people in Centre County are fully vaccinated and 5,993 are partially covered.
Vaccination appointments for ages 12 and older are available through Centre Volunteers in Medicine, Mount Nittany Health and through other pharmacies and providers listed at vaccines.gov.
Statewide hospitalizations also continue to rise. Pennsylvania has 996 COVID-19 inpatients, an increase of 61 since Thursday, with 250 in intensive care [+24] and 119 on ventilators [+11].
An estimated 96% of COVID-19 patients in the state have recovered, according to a DOH calculation.
Among Centre County’s cases, 15,688 are confirmed and 1,550 are probable.
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): 5,714 confirmed [+1], 409 probable
16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 2,829 confirmed [-1], 277 probable
16803 (State College): 1,513 confirmed, 194 probable [+1]
16802 (University Park): 1,406 confirmed, 57 probable
16866 (Philipsburg): 963 confirmed [+2], 132 probable
16870 (Port Matilda): 532 confirmed [+1], 79 probable
16841 (Howard): 448 confirmed [+1], 53 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 318 confirmed, 34 probable
16875 (Spring Mills): 309 confirmed [+2], 46 probable
16827 (Boalsburg): 308 confirmed [+1], 47 probable
16845 (Karthaus): 293 confirmed, 12 probable
16844 (Julian): 225 confirmed, 24 probable
16853 (Milesburg): 138 confirmed, 8 probable
16877 (Warrior’s Mark): 131 confirmed, 21 probable
16874 (Snow Shoe): 110 confirmed, 17 probable
16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 95 confirmed, 8 probable
16826 (Blanchard): 90 confirmed, 12 probable
16854 (Millheim): 88 confirmed, 8 probable
16820 (Aaronsburg): 78 confirmed, 20 probable
16872 (Rebersburg): 77 confirmed, 9 probable
16829 (Clarence): 73 confirmed, 20 probable
16851 (Lemont): 65 confirmed, 7 probable
16859 (Moshannon): 46 confirmed [+1], 1-4 probable
16832 (Coburn): 34 confirmed, 1-4 probable
16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 33 confirmed, 1-4 probable
16677 (Sandy Ridge): 33 confirmed, 1-4 probable
16856 (Mingoville): 30 confirmed, 6 probable
16852 (Madisonburg): 21 confirmed, 5 probable
16835 (Fleming): 17 confirmed, 7 probable
16882 (Woodward): 15 confirmed, 1-4 confirmed
16863 (Orviston): 13 confirmed
16804 (State College): 12 confirmed
Cases among Centre County’s bordering counties
Blair: 13,673 [+6]
Clearfield: 8,902 [+19]
Union: 6,225 [+2]
Mifflin: 5,499 [+5]
Huntingdon: 5,242 [+4]
Clinton: 3,805 [+8]
