Jan. 7 update: Pa. reports 1st case of COVID-19 variant; Centre County has 96 new cases
The COVID-19 variant has arrived in Pennsylvania, the state Health Department said Thursday.
A case of the variant, which was first found late last year in England, was confirmed in Dauphin County. Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine said the person tested positive after “known international exposure” and had mild symptoms that were resolved after isolation at home.
Levine said in a statement that public health experts expect already available tests will detect this variant and the vaccines that are out will be effective against this form of the virus.
Across Pennsylvania, coronavirus cases continued their upward trend with 9,698 new positives Thursday. There have been 693,087 total cases and 3.34 million negative tests. An estimated 72% of people have recovered.
Centre County’s daily totals have been rising throughout the week. With 96 new cases Thursday, the county has had 9,444 cases since March 20 (8,840 confirmed and 604 probable). There have been 53,036 negative tests.
Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 48 COVID-19 patients — five fewer than Wednesday’s update — between ages 38 and 98, a spokesperson said.
Sixty people are hospitalized in Centre County with COVID-19, according to the state hospital dashboard, a decrease of four patients. The dashboard also includes rehabilitation facilities. Six patients are in intensive care and four are on ventilators.
Statewide, 5,613 people are hospitalized with COVID, with 1,120 in intensive care. About 14% of ICU beds are available.
Since the COVID-19 vaccine was first distributed to hospitals the week of Dec. 14, about 178,000 doses have been administered. across the state. In Centre County, 2,119 doses have been given out, including 57 on Wednesday.
In Pennsylvania, there have been 17,179 deaths, an increase of 265 from the previous day. Centre County added one death to bring the total to 148. The county coroner has confirmed 108 fatalities.
Five new cases were reported in residents and three new cases in employees at long-term care facilities in Centre County, along with one additional death. There have now been 609 resident cases, 131 employee cases and 128 deaths at 16 nursing and personal care homes in the county.
Statewide, there have been 55,864 resident cases, 10,313 employee cases and 9,311 resident deaths at 1,489 nursing and personal care homes.
The state also added another learning option for elementary schools. As of Jan. 25, elementary schools in counties with substantial transmission of COVID-19 can offer blending/hybrid learning, the departments of Health and Education said Thursday. The state has recommended schools pursue one of three instructional models: fully in-person, blended/hybrid and fully remote. The new guidance presents elementary schools with a second recommendation — remote or blended/hybrid.
Fully remote learning is still being recommended for middle/high schools in substantial level counties, the state said. All 67 counties are in the substantial level. The transmission risk level is based on incidence rate and percent positivity in the counties.
“While it is impossible to eliminate the risk of disease transmission entirely within a school setting where community spread is present, recent studies have shown that when mitigation efforts, such as universal masking, physical distancing, and hand hygiene are followed, it may be safer for younger children, particularly elementary grade students, to return to in-person instruction,” Levine said in a statement.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 12:37 PM.