COVID-19 cases, positivity rate drop in Centre County and Pennsylvania

Centre County saw a substantial drop in the number of COVID-19 cases this week.

Just 22 cases were reported between last Saturday and Friday, with the highest daily total of seven on Wednesday. The fewest number was reported the day before, when the state Health Department removed a case from the overall total.

The week before, the county added 100 cases to its total.

As of Friday, Centre County has had 16,869 cases — 15,372 confirmed and 1,497 probable — along with 69,781 negative tests.

Cases fall in PA

Pennsylvania reported 4,259 cases this week, a decrease of 2,929 compared to the previous seven days.

Daily case totals ranged from a high of 832 last Saturday to a low of 315 on Monday.

As of Friday, there have been 1,204,802 cases overall, along with 4,626,860 negative tests. Statewide, 95% of people have recovered.

Deaths continue to decrease, with 59 fewer fatalities this week than the previous seven-day period. There have been 27,325 deaths, 138 of which occurred this week.

The Health Department did not report any new deaths this week in Centre County, which has had a total of 224.

Vaccine demand drops again

As of Friday, Pennsylvania has given 10,763,516 vaccine doses (excluding Philadelphia and federal facilities). Almost 312,000 doses have been given this week. An average of 34,500 people were vaccinated each day this week, a drop of 22,500 from the previous week.

Pennsylvania has given first doses to 58.7% of its entire population, which ranks ninth among all states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC also reported that 54.7% of Pennsylvanians 18 and older are fully vaccinated while 71.4% have gotten their first dose. The state ranks fifth for total doses given, the CDC said.

In Centre County, 145,355 vaccinations have been given — 74,700 partial and 70,655 full.

Across the state, the total number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients fell by about 200 this week.

Mount Nittany Medical Center was treating nine COVID patients between ages 44 and 89 on Friday. There has been a daily average of 10 patients this month, Dr. Christopher Hester, Mount Nittany Physician Group’s chief clinical officer, said. In May, the hospital admitted a total of 80 COVID-19 patients with an average daily count of 15 patients.

Pennsylvanians 12 and older are eligible for the vaccine and can schedule an appointment with Mount Nittany Health at mountnittany.org/coronavirus or find other providers at vaccines.gov.

“To date, just over 47 percent of Centre County residents are fully vaccinated,” Hester said in a statement. “While we are making progress, please continue to encourage those around you to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine if they have yet to do so.”

Positivity rate decreases

Pennsylvania’s positivity rate fell once again, according to the state’s early warning monitoring system dashboard. The rate dropped to 2.9% for the period May 28-Thursday, a decrease from the previous week’s rate of 3.8%. Centre County had the seventh lowest rate in Pennsylvania at 1.8%. The previous week’s rate was 3.9%. McKean County had the highest positivity rate in Pennsylvania at 15.9%.

The county’s case rate per 100,000 residents was 9.9, the second lowest in the state.

This story was originally published June 5, 2021 at 7:00 AM with the headline "COVID-19 cases, positivity rate drop in Centre County and Pennsylvania."