COVID-19 cases appear to be on the decline in Centre County, across Pennsylvania

COVID-19 cases continue to trend downward in Centre County, as the seven-day total fell by almost 60 compared to last week.

During the week ending Friday, there were 142 cases. Daily totals ranged from 45 last Saturday to just eight on Monday. The county saw 199 cases the week before.

Overall, there have been 16,666 cases — 15,193 confirmed and 1,473 probable — along with 69,013 negative cases.

The county logged its first COVID-19 death this month on Thursday, which brings the total to 221. Almost three-quarters of those deaths have been in residents of nursing or personal care homes.

Cases in Pennsylvania

Cases are also falling across Pennsylvania. The state logged 13,244 new cases between last Saturday and Friday. Daily totals ranged from 2,610 last Saturday to 1,023 on Monday. The week before, there were 18,673 cases.

Statewide, there have been 1,182,922 cases and 4,501,828 million negative tests. About 91% of people have recovered.

There have been 230 deaths to bring the total to 26,724.

Positivity rate

The state’s early warning monitoring system dashboard shows the positivity rate fell to 5.3% during the period from May 7 to Thursday. That compares with the previous week’s rate of 6.6%. Centre County’s positivity rate dropped to 5.6% from 7.1%.

Hospitalizations

Across Pennsylvania, the number of hospitalized patients dropped by almost 400 over the past week. The number of patients is at its lowest level since late March.

Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 10 COVID-19 patients between the ages of 33 and 81, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Upendra Thaker said Friday. That’s six fewer patients than there were last Friday. There has been a daily average of 16 COVID patients this month.

Vaccines

The state has given first doses of the vaccine to 54% of the entire population, which ranks ninth in the country, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC reported that 47.3% of Pennsylvania adults are fully vaccinated. The state ranks fifth in the country for total doses administered.

Excluding Philadelphia and federal facilities, 9.53 million doses have been given to 5.78 million people across the state.

In Centre County, 130,694 vaccinations have been administered — 69,946 partial and 60,748 full — to 77,339 people.

Mount Nittany Health has given or scheduled more than 42,600 doses, Thaker said in Mount Nittany Health’s weekly COVID update.

“However, with just over 42 percent of Centre County fully vaccinated, we still have a long way to go until the majority of our community is vaccinated and we can further relax COVID mitigation measures and safety return to more normal routines,” Thaker said.

Pennsylvanians ages 12 and up are now eligible to be vaccinated, with 12- to 17-year-olds eligible for the Pfizer vaccine. Parents or guardians can register their youngsters for a vaccine and must be present when it is given, Thaker said.

To find a vaccine appointment, visit mountnittany.org/coronavirus, cvim.net or vaccines.gov.