CDC: Centre County now has ‘substantial’ COVID-19 transmission, masking indoors advised
Centre County is now among areas with “substantial” community transmission of COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The county moved back into the substantial level of community transmission with the CDC’s Saturday afternoon update.
It was first placed in the substantial level, the second-highest on the CDC’s community transmission scale, on Thursday. The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people wear a mask indoors if they live in areas with substantial or high transmission. On Friday, the county moved back into the moderate level.
As of Saturday, Clearfield and Clinton counties were also in the substantial transmission level. All of the other counties bordering Centre remained in the moderate level.
Level of community transmission is based on the number of cases in the past seven days per 100,000 residents and the number of positive tests in the past seven days. Locations with a total of 50-99.99 new cases per 100,000 are considered to have substantial transmission. Centre County’s case total on Saturday was 51.11, which shows that the county is at the low end of the substantial level and helps explain the switch between levels in recent days.
The state of Pennsylvania is classified under the substantial level. It’s one of a handful of states at that level; the majority of states have high levels of transmission.
When the CDC’s new guidance was issued last week, most counties in Pennsylvania — including Centre — had low or moderate transmission levels. Now more than half of the counties in the state fall into the substantial or high categories.
The delta variant has fueled a resurgence of COVID-19 across the country. According to the CDC, weekly cases more than quintupled from the week ending June 30 compared to the week ending July 30.
Though Penn State originally planned to adjust its masking policy on a campus-by-campus basis, based on county transmission reported by the CDC, it changed course on Wednesday due to rises cases across the commonwealth and the spread of the delta virus. Masks are now required in all indoor public spaces across all campuses.
This story was originally published August 5, 2021 at 8:28 PM.
