Here’s how Centre County has fared with COVID-19 cases since entering the ‘green phase’
Centre County has remained well below the state’s goal of fewer than 50 new confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000, even after transition to the least restrictive phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s reopening plan.
About 11 new cases per 100,000 were reported in Centre County during the past two weeks, according to data provided by the state Health Department.
The metric is not the only one used to inform DOH decisions, but Centre County has consistently met other benchmarks as well.
The DOH removed Wednesday five cases of the coronavirus from Centre County’s tally, dropping its total to 172 since the first case was reported March 20. All five cases were removed from the 16803 ZIP code.
“Cases are identified by county of residence,” DOH spokesman Nate Wardle wrote Wednesday in an email. “For areas where there are populations who maybe living at a temporary residence — such as college students, nursing homes, etc. — (and) as we conduct case investigations and determine the county of residence, case counts will be updated as part of the constant data cleaning process.”
Six new cases were reported Tuesday, making it the second-largest single-day increase since the county moved to the green phase on May 29. Seven new cases were reported Friday.
The increases have been outliers. No more than two new cases were reported in a single-day beyond those two days.
The DOH is not aware of any particular incident that may have contributed to the increases, Wardle wrote Tuesday in an email.
“Centre County is a special place,” Penn State associate biology professor Matthew Ferrari said Wednesday. “It’s relatively far removed, and the major employer and business-driver in the county — the university — has been on restricted operations.”
About 46,000 students vacated Happy Valley in March when Penn State announced the second half of the semester would be completed online. Centre County has been in its “most local” form since, Ferrari said.
That is scheduled to change in the next two months when Penn State resumes in-person classes, which also brings along a more transient population.
“We are an outlier as a county. The university closure and the change in population density, movement and economic activity that we’ve seen in Centre County is so much more severe relative to baseline and other places,” Ferrari said. “The day-to-day look of the most densely populated parts of Centre County are so much different than they would be on this day in any other year. That’s not necessarily the case for some of the other counties.”
About 24% of the county’s cases have been reported in nursing and personal care homes as of Tuesday. Those cases are spread across three facilities, according to the DOH.
The Oaks at Pleasant Gap, Wynwood House at State College and Centre Crest in Bellefonte have confirmed cases among staff or residents to the Centre Daily Times.
Six COVID-19 deaths have been reported in Centre County.
The six deaths confirmed by the county coroner’s office are an 89-year-old man on April 16, a 96-year-old man May 8, an 89-year-old woman May 9, a 74-year-old man May 12, an 88-year-old woman May 13 and an 88-year-old man on May 27.
Pennsylvania added 335 new cases Wednesday. There have been 79,818 cases reported in the Keystone State, along with 6,319 deaths. About 75% of patients statewide have recovered, according to the DOH.
In Centre County, here’s the breakdown by ZIP code:
16823 (Bellefonte, Milesburg and Pleasant Gap): 41
16801, 16803 (State College): 35
16827 (Boalsburg): 10
16870 (Port Matilda): 9
16686 (Tyrone): 7
16822 (Beech Creek), 16841 (Howard): 5
16666, 16828, 16844, 16845, 16852, 16860, 16865, 16866, 16872, 16875: 1-4 cases each (The state does not give specific numbers when there are fewer than five cases to protect patient privacy)
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 2:33 PM.