Number of PA counties at high COVID community levels up to 14. Where the CDC says to mask
With its Thursday update, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 21,000 new cases of the coronavirus in Pennsylvania in the last week and deemed 14 counties to be high COVID-19 community levels.
That’s an increase from the week prior, when 10 counties fell into the high range, where the federal health agency recommends masking in public, indoor spaces.
The counties scored at a high level as of Aug. 19 are Mercer, Lawrence, Butler, Beaver, Allegheny, Westmoreland, Washington, Fayette, Greene, Clearfield, Huntingdon, Mifflin, Juniata and Northumberland.
One of those, Mercer County, has remained at high for more than a month. The positivity rate there for the last seven days was 30.29%, the CDC reports, up nearly 2% from the week prior.
The community level guidance encourages vaccination and testing at all three levels — low, medium and high — but masking only at the high level for all individuals and potentially the medium level for those most at risk.
They are calculated weekly based on new hospitalizations and cases per 100,000 people (both seven-day totals) and percent of staffed, inpatient COVID-19 beds occupied (a seven-day average).
COVID-19 in Centre County, beyond
Under Thursday’s update, Centre County remains as a medium level, with 263 new recorded cases, per the CDC.
The positivity rate there dropped over the last week, from 15.68% to 14.77%.
The state’s coronavirus dashboard reports, as of Wednesday, Centre County has recorded 35,150 confirmed cases of the virus since the onset of the pandemic, with another 4,406 probable cases on the books. In addition, there have been 363 deaths in the county attributed to COVID-19.
For the week ending Aug. 17, the CDC reports 149 COVID-19 deaths across the state as a whole. Those are part of the nearly 46,500 Pennsylvanians that have died due to the virus.
COVID-19 vaccine in the US
More than 9 million Pennsylvanians are fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, a little more than 70% of the population.
More Americans could be eligible for boosters soon, White House officials said Wednesday.
Development of the new booster has been aimed at the omicron variants BA.4 and BA.5, which are the dominant strains in the country.
Currently, additional boosters are only available in the U.S. to those ages 12 and older with a weakened immune system and all individuals older than 50.
To find a COVID-19 vaccine in your area, visit vaccines.gov.