PA reports 20K new cases, 12 counties at high COVID community levels. Here’s the latest

With fewer new cases reported in Pennsylvania this week, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a declining number of counties at high COVID-19 community levels.

As of Friday, 12 counties are scored high on the CDC’s scale, down from 14 last week.

The community level metric is based not just on new cases, but also new hospital admissions per 100,000 people (a seven-day total) and percent of occupied COVID-19 hospital beds (a seven-day average).

Counties scored high as of Aug. 26 are McKean, Elk, Bradford, Mifflin, Juniata, Mercer, Butler, Cambria, Somerset, Fayette, Greene and Washington.

In those counties considered at the high level, the CDC recommends all individuals wear a mask in public, indoor places.

For counties at medium, those most at risk for severe illness should consider masking, and at all levels the CDC recommends testing if symptoms arise and getting vaccinated.

COVID-19 in Pennsylvania by the numbers

Fewer counties at the high level come as the state sees slightly declining new cases reported. The CDC shows the state counted 20,164 new cases for the seven-day period ending Aug. 24. That’s down by more 1,000 from the week prior, and it is the fifth straight week cases have declined or held steady, as The Morning Call reported Friday.

Still, official case counts are likely not representative of actual cases in the Keystone State and beyond, as at-home testing and varied reporting methods have led to undercounts.

Pennsylvania’s positivity rate continues to linger between 15% and 19.9%, per the CDC.

The state reported 102 new COVID-19 deaths for the week ending Wednesday, bringing its pandemic death toll to 46,596.

The omicron BA.5 subvariant remains the most dominant strain across the U.S., accounting for an estimated 88% of cases as of Aug. 20.

Second boosters could be ready for many more Americans soon, with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considering emergency authorization for updated jabs from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that are reportedly better able to provide protection against the omicron subvariants.

Hospitalizations in Pennsylvania sit at 1,289 as of Friday, with 132 of those patients in adult intensive care units and 51 on ventilators. The state reports a capacity of 3,282 staffed beds to handle such cases and nearly 5,400 ventilators.

COVID-19 in Centre County

This week, Centre County dropped back to a low COVID-19 community level after being at a medium last week.

There were 263 new cases recorded in the county over the past week, the same number as tallied Aug. 19. The positivity rate went up slightly, from 14.77% to 16.92%, and 1,809 tests were reported, up 3.73% week-over-week.

Patients at Mount Nittany Health in State College account for 13 of the state’s reported 1,289 hospitalizations. That bed census, as of Aug. 26, is up two from the day prior but down from 17 as of Aug. 20.

The patients range in age from 21 to 93, and none are in the ICU or using a ventilator.

You can find a vaccination site near you to get your free shot using vaccines.gov.