Jan. 15 update: Mount Nittany urges vigilance against COVID-19; Centre County adds 37 cases
Mount Nittany Health’s chief medical officer urged the community Friday to maintain COVID-19 safety measures even as more doses of the vaccine are administered.
“Even with vaccines gradually being administered, everyone needs to continue taking the precautions we’ve all been talking about: wearing masks, social distancing, washing hands and avoiding large gatherings,” Joshi said in the health system’s weekly COVID update. “It is impossible to predict how long COVID will be with us, what levels of infection we’ll see going forward, and how long it will take before most of the population can be vaccinated.”
Centre County is in the first phase of vaccine distribution as per the state Department of Health, Joshi said. During Phase 1A, long-term care facility residents and health care personnel are eligible for the vaccine.
The state’s vaccine dashboard shows 349,101 people have received the first dose of the vaccine and 58,116 have received both doses.
In Centre County, 3,086 people have gotten the first dose and 1,133 have gotten both. On Thursday, 112 people received their first dose and 12 got their second. Nine people received their first dose on Friday, as of early afternoon.
The county reported 37 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday to bring the total to 10,041 (9,385 confirmed and 656 probable). There have been 54,090 negative tests.
With one new fatality, there have been 167 deaths in the county, according to the state Department of Health.
Pennsylvania’s daily case totals have remained below 10,000 for most of January, and Friday was no exception. The state added 6,047 new cases to bring the total to 754,611. There have been 3.44 million negative tests, and an estimated 76% of people have recovered statewide.
Across the state, there have been 18,957 deaths, an increase of 215.
Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 48 COVID-19 patients between ages 18 and 101, a spokesperson said Friday. This month, the hospital has admitted 120 COVID patients with an average of 48 COVID patients per day.
Mount Nittany Health said this week that some elective surgeries and procedures will resume as COVID hospitalizations have declined. Joshi said Friday that the health system is following its pandemic response plan “and will make adjustments as needed to serve our COVID positive inpatients and those needing us for acute and surgical care.”
The state’s hospital dashboard, which also includes rehabilitation facilities, shows 55 patients — six more than Thursday — are being treated in Centre County. Two patients are in intensive care and one is on a ventilator.
Statewide, 4,980 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 with 1,013 in intensive care. Patient numbers are close to double the high from the spring but have declined from a more recent peak in December.
The breakdown of confirmed Centre County cases by ZIP code, and the change from the previous day (if any), is as follows, according to the Health Department:
- 16801 (State College): 3,570 (+2 cases)
- 16823 (Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap): 1,770 (+13)
- 16803 (State College): 799 (+1)
- 16802 (University Park): 797 (-1)
- 16686 (Tyrone): 768 (+1)
- 16866 (Philipsburg): 633 (+2)
- 16870 (Port Matilda): 292 (+2)
- 16841 (Howard): 256 (+2)
- 16845 (Karthaus): 214 (+1)
- 16828 (Centre Hall): 187 (+3)
- 16875 (Spring Mills): 186
- 16827 (Boalsburg): 167 (+1)
- 16822 (Beech Creek): 137 (+1)
- 16844 (Julian): 124 (+2)
- 16666 (Osceola Mills): 106
- 16853 (Milesburg): 93
- 16874 (Snow Shoe): 74
- 16877 (Warriors Mark): 72
- 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 59
- 16854 (Millheim): 51 (+1)
- 16829 (Clarence): 49
- 16826 (Blanchard): 47
- 16872 (Rebersburg): 45
- 16820 (Aaronsburg): 44
- 16851 (Lemont): 39 (+1)
- 16859 (Moshannon): 33
- 16856 (Mingoville): 27
- 16677 (Sandy Ridge): 20
- 16832 (Coburn): 20
- 16860 (Munson): 18
- 16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 17
- 16852 (Madisonburg): 14
- 16804 (State College): 8
- 16835 (Unionville): 7
- 16864 (Orviston): 6
- 16882 (Woodward): 5
- 16805 (State College): 1-4
The state does not provide 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.
One new resident case, three employee cases and one death were reported in Centre County long-term care facilities. There have been 634 resident cases, 136 employee cases and 134 deaths in 16 nursing and personal care homes.
Statewide, there have been 58,922 resident cases, 11,065 employee cases and 9,854 deaths at 1,507 long-term care facilities.
This story was originally published January 15, 2021 at 12:43 PM.