COVID-19 cases continue decline in PA ahead of Thanksgiving. Should you wear a mask?

COVID-19 cases continued to decline in the Keystone State ahead of Thanksgiving, with Pennsylvania adding fewer than 10,000 new cases as of Nov. 15.

For the most recent seven-day period, from Nov. 9 to Nov. 15, there were 9,725 new cases reported across the commonwealth.

That marks a sizable decline from the 12,040 new cases reported the previous week.

Fewer Pennsylvania counties are also at the highest COVID-19 community level, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows.

Only one county — Mercer County — is experiencing a high COVID-19 community level. Meanwhile, the rest of Pennsylvania’s counties are split in half — 40 are at low community levels and 26 at medium.

In counties were the community level is considered high, the federal health agency recommends all individuals mask in indoor, public places.

But even at medium community levels, individuals who are at greater risk for severe illness should consider masking and other precautions, per CDC guidance.

The community levels metric is calculated weekly and based on new cases and hospitalizations per 100,000 individuals, as well as the percentage of COVID-occupied inpatient beds at area facilities.

To date, there have been 48,126 deaths in Pennsylvania due to COVID-19, per state data. Since Nov. 11, that amounts to 132 deaths through to Nov. 18.

The CDC puts the state’s positivity rate at between 8-9.9% over the past week, with the seven-day average new hospitalization figure at 172.43.

COVID-19 in Centre County

As of Friday, Nov. 18, Centre County remained at the low community level for COVID-19, where it was last week as well.

For the week ending Nov. 16, there were 131 new cases of COVID-19 in the county. The case rate in Centre County stood at 80.67.

The positivity rate is at 6.65%, down from last week, and the 1610 tests performed. That represents 20% more tests performed over the previous week, according to figures current as of Nov. 14

Mount Nitany Health reports 11 patients hosptialized with COVID-19. The age of the patients ranges from 67 to 90 years old.

To find a COVID-19 vaccine near you, visit vaccines.gov.

Aaron Mudd

Lexington Herald-Leader

Aaron Mudd was a service journalism reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader, Centre Daily Times and Belleville News-Democrat. He was based at the Herald-Leader in Lexington, and left the paper in February 2026. Support my work with a digital subscription