Centre County is in the high level of community transmission as COVID-19 cases increase

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to increase in Centre County.

Between last Saturday and Friday, there were 180 cases, 42 more than the previous seven days. Daily totals ranged from a low of 15 on Tuesday to a high of 40 on Friday.

Overall, there have been 17,556 cases — 15,958 confirmed and 1,598 probable — along with 75,061 negative tests.

The number of deaths remained steady at 230.

Mount Nittany Medical Center is treating 18 COVID-19 patients between ages 22 and 91, a spokesperson said Friday. The hospital has admitted a total of 63 COVID patients this month, with a daily average of 14 patients. In July, there were 37 COVID admissions with a daily average of six patients.

The increase in hospitalizations has led Mount Nittany Health to reschedule some elective surgical procedures and restrict visitors. Health system officials continue to urge community members to get vaccinated.

“The majority of people who have been hospitalized at the (m)edical (c)enter for COVID are not fully vaccinated. The COVID vaccine — to include the recently FDA-approved Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (Comirnaty) — is highly effective and our best defense against the transmission of COVID in our community,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Upendra Thaker said in a statement. “We have vaccinated more than 45,000 people in our community, and we strongly encourage everyone to receive it.”

There have been 157,226 vaccinations administered in Centre County — 80,078 full and 77,148 partial. During the past week, 1,315 doses were given; that’s 183 fewer doses than the week before.

Mount Nittany Health and Centre Volunteers in Medicine are offering third doses to those who meet eligibility requirements. Visit mountnittany.org/COVID or cvim.net for more details on vaccine appointments and clinics.

Centre County is in the high level of community transmission as of Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Every county in the state is at that level except for five that have substantial transmission (Clinton, Jefferson, Tioga, Lackwanna and Pike).

Nationwide, about 93% of counties are in the high level.

As of Friday, the CDC said:

• 59.3% of Centre County’s total population received at least one vaccine dose with 51.1% fully vaccinated.
• 66.2% of those 18 and older received at least one dose with 57.1% fully vaccinated.
• 99.3% of residents 65 and older received at least one dose with 88.6% fully vaccinated.

Cases on the rise in PA

Pennsylvania added 26,138 cases to the state’s total this week, though 5,227 were old cases that dated back to the start of the pandemic. The Health Department said those cases were from Philadelphia and had been reported to the city but not the state.

The total number of new cases across the state this week was 20,911, an increase of 5,022 from the previous week. Last Saturday’s one-day case total of 3,637 was the highest since April 28.

In all, there have been 1,288,041 cases along with 5,111,559 negative tests. Statewide, 94% of people have recovered.

There were 121 new deaths this week to bring the total to 28,180. Last week, there were 102 deaths.

Across the state — excluding Philadelphia — the vaccine dashboard shows 12,109,963 doses have been given as of Friday, with 5,926,165 people fully vaccinated. An average of 17,600 people were vaccinated each day this week, about 2,100 more than the previous seven days.

As of Friday, the CDC said Pennsylvania ranks fifth among the states for total doses given, and 65.5% of Pennsylvanians 18 and older are fully vaccinated. CDC figures reflect all 67 counties.

Hospitalizations continue to increase and are the highest they’ve been since mid-May. There were 1,722 patients as of Friday, more than triple the total at the beginning of August.

Positivity rates increase

Positivity rates climbed again in the county and state according to the early warning monitoring system dashboard. Centre County’s rate rose to 7.5%, while Pennsylvania’s rate increased to 7.8% for the period Aug. 20-Thursday. Centre’s rate last week was 6.2%, while the state had a reading of 6.9%.

This week’s lowest rating belongs to Union County at 3.5%, and the highest is Warren County’s 30.6%.