Centre County adds 137 cases of COVID-19, second-highest single-day increase since March
Centre County added 137 cases of the new coronavirus Friday, according to the state Health Department, the second-highest number reported in a single-day since the beginning of the pandemic.
The county has reported 576 cases of COVID-19 in September, more than in March, April, May, June, July and August combined. About 54% of the county’s total cases, 1,062, have been reported in September.
Nearly all of the new cases were reported in State College ZIP codes. All but two test results reported Friday were confirmed.
Penn State reported Friday that an additional 272 students at University Park tested positive, pushing the campus total to 688. Classes began Aug. 24.
About 132 students are isolated on-campus, while about 77 students are quarantined on-campus.
One patient is hospitalized at Mount Nittany Medical Center and being treated for COVID-19 as of Friday, hospital spokesperson Anissa Ilie said.
The Keystone State added 1,008 cases Friday, which brought the statewide total to 142,885. An estimated 82% of patients recovered statewide.
About 7,837 deaths attributed to COVID-19 have been reported in Pennsylvania, including 17 deaths reported Friday. Eleven deaths have been attributed to COVID-19 in Centre County.
The breakdown of Centre County cases by ZIP code is as follows, according to the DOH:
- 16801 (State College): 525 confirmed (104 new cases), 21 probable (2 new cases)
16802 (University Park): 123 (16 new cases), 0 probable
16803 (State College): 79 (6 new cases), 6 probable
- 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 78 (2 new cases), 6 probable
- 16686 (Tyrone): 32, 1-4 probable
- 16866 (Philipsburg): 26, 1-4 probable
- 16875 (Spring Mills): 23, 0 probable
- 16870 (Port Matilda): 22 (1 new case), 1-4 probable
- 16841 (Howard): 24 (1 new case), 1-4 probable
- 16827 (Boalsburg): 19 (1 new case), 0 probable
16828 (Centre Hall): 14, 1-4 probable
- 16822 (Beech Creek): 13, 0 probable
- 16666 (Osceola Mills): 8, 1-4 probable
- 16844 (Julian): 6, 0 probable
- 16854 (Millheim): 6, 1-4 probable
- 16877 (Warriors Mark): 5, 0 probable
- 16820 (Aaronsburg): 5, 1-4 probable
- 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 5, 0 probable
- 16804, 16829, 16832, 16845, 16852, 16860, 16868, 16872, 16874, 16882: 1-4 cases each
The state does not give specific numbers when there are fewer than five cases, to protect patient privacy, and does not identify exactly where a case occurred in a ZIP code that spans multiple counties.
About 19,699 negative tests have been administered in Centre County, an increase of 778 since Thursday.
Centre County has the highest incidence rate in the state with about 255 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the state’s early warning dashboard. Columbia County has the second-highest incidence rate with about 83 cases per 100,000 residents.
Centre County’s testing positivity rate since Sept. 4 was 9.2%. The county’s rate was 5% from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3.
State College Area School District transitioned to remote learning Sept. 4 after Centre County reached the “substantial” level of community transmission, according to the state Education Department. The district was expected to update its week-by-week plans later Friday.
It’s not known what specifically might move University Park to temporary or permanent remote learning. The university has declined to release its closing plans.
The university has said only that those decisions depend on numerous circumstances, such as disease prevalence, trend lines in case numbers, number of hospitalizations, isolation/hospital capacities and whether students would be required to vacate residence halls.
This story was originally published September 11, 2020 at 12:59 PM.