Dec. 21 update: Centre County adds 114 weekend cases of COVID-19; Pa. adds 15,100
Centre County added 114 COVID-19 cases since Saturday, according to the state Department of Health, with Mount Nittany Medical Center reporting its highest number of COVID-19 inpatients to date.
Centre County added 70 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and 44 on Monday. That raises the total to 8,333 (7,888 confirmed and 441 probable) cases since March 20. There have been 51,330 negative tests.
Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 55 COVID-19 patients between the ages of 30 and 95, a spokesperson said Monday morning. That’s a record high number of reported inpatients, and four more than were reported Friday, though daily admission numbers have hovered around 50 throughout December.
In a statement Friday, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nirmal Joshi acknowledged that due to the consistent high number of inpatients, further reductions of services may be needed.
“We ask that everyone continue to be vigilant by consistently following COVID safety measures, including wearing a mask, frequent hand washing and maintaining social distance,” Joshi wrote. “These measures are especially important during the holidays as we continue to see a rise in COVID cases and subsequent hospitalizations.”
The state’s dashboard, which also include rehabilitation hospitals, lists 58 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Centre County. Of those, 11 are in intensive care and two are on ventilators.
Pennsylvania added 15,100 weekend cases to bring the total to 563,589. There have been 3.2 million negative tests, and an estimated 61% of people have recovered statewide.
The Health Department said Saturday that 6,074 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, which is double the peak in the spring. There are 1,230 COVID-19 patients in intensive care.
The state’s early warning dashboard shows improvement in the state’s positivity rate, which was at 15.8% last week, down from 16.2% the week prior. Still, every county in the state except for Sullivan County has a “concerning percent positivity” above five percent, according to a press release Monday from the governor’s office.
“While our case data shows some improvement, the continued strain COVID-19 is placing on the rate of hospitalizations and ventilator use serve as a reminder to us all of our role in protecting our health care system,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a statement.
Centre County’s weekly positivity rate is 14.5%, an increase from 12.9% the week prior.
Across the state, there have been 13,981 deaths, an increase of 156 since Saturday. Centre County reported two new deaths since Saturday, the Health Department said, to bring the total to 124. The county coroner has confirmed 89 deaths.
- 16801 (State College): 3355 (2 new cases)
- 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 1296 (9 new cases)
- 16802 (University Park): 793 (2 cases removed)
- 16803 (State College): 625 (3 new cases)
- 16686 (Tyrone): 591 (5 new cases)
- 16866 (Philipsburg): 449 (16 new cases)
- 16870 (Port Matilda): 210 (2 new cases)
- 16841 (Howard): 186 (7 new cases)
- 16875 (Spring Mills): 146
- 16828 (Centre Hall): 136 (2 new cases)
- 16845 (Karthaus): 120 (4 new cases)
- 16827 (Boalsburg): 107
- 16822 (Beech Creek): 96 (7 new cases)
- 16844 (Julian): 73
- 16874 (Snow Shoe): 64
- 16853 (Milesburg): 64 (1 new case)
- 16666 (Osceola Mills): 69 (2 new cases)
- 16877 (Warriors Mark): 61
- 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 45 (2 new cases)
- 16854 (Millheim): 36
- 16829 (Clarence): 36 (1 new case)
- 16826 (Blanchard): 36
- 16851 (Lemont): 32
- 16872 (Rebersburg): 36
- 16820 (Aaronsburg): 31
- 16859 (Moshannon): 25
- 16856 (Mingoville): 20
- 16832 (Coburn): 16
- 16860 (Munson): 14
- 16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 12 (1 new case)
- 16677 (Sandy Ridge): 11 (1 new case)
- 16852 (Madisonburg): 9
- 16804 (State College): 7
- 16835 (Unionville): 6
- 16864, 16882: 1-4 cases each
Four resident cases and three employee cases were added to the totals at Centre County nursing and personal care homes. There have been 553 resident cases, 111 employee cases and 112 deaths at 16 long-term care facilities in the county. The state previously reported cases in 17 facilities in Centre County.
Statewide, there are 47,947 resident cases and 8,682 employee cases at 1,431 long-term care facilities in all 67 counties.
