Here’s what you need to know about COVID-19 this week in Centre County and Pennsylvania

COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in Centre County.

From Oct. 23-29, 285 cases were reported; that’s an increase of 55 compared to the previous seven days. Daily case increases during the week ranged from a low of 13 on Oct. 25 to a high of 41 on Oct. 24.

Two additional deaths were reported in the county — one on Oct. 24 and another on Oct. 26 — to bring the total to 244. Nine COVID-19 deaths have been reported in October, which marks the highest monthly total since February.

As of Oct. 29, Centre County has had 20,613 cases — 18,654 confirmed and 1,959 probable — along with 82,508 negative tests.

Mount Nittany Medical Center was treating 38 COVID patients between ages 22 and 94, a spokesperson said Oct. 29. Three were in intensive care and two were on ventilators. Of the total, 26 patients were not vaccinated. Patient totals ranged from 33 to 40 between Oct. 25 and 29, and their ages ranged from 20 to 94.

In October, there have been 122 COVID hospitalizations, while the average daily patient count has risen from 27 last month to 34 — that marks the third highest count during the pandemic, Mount Nittany officials said.

Vaccine eligibility set to expand

A vaccine clinic for children ages 5-11 is tentatively scheduled in early November for Mount Nittany Physician Group patients pending Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clearance. The Food and Drug Administration on Oct. 29 approved the Pfizer vaccine in the age group for emergency use, The Associated Press reported. CDC advisers are expected to meet Nov. 2 to set criteria for which children should be vaccinated.

The doses are a third of the size given to adults and, based on the CDC’s guidelines, will be given to eligible children in two doses, two weeks apart, AP reported.

Parents can sign up their children for the vaccine at mountnittany.org/coronavirus.

As of Oct. 29, every Pennsylvania county was in the CDC’s high level of community transmission. The CDC recommends that everyone in a high transmission area wear a mask while indoors in public.

Among Pennsylvanians 18 and older, 71.7% are fully vaccinated, the CDC said. A week ago, that figure stood at 71.2%.

The CDC said that in Centre County:

• 65.6% of the total population received at least one vaccine dose with 54.9% fully vaccinated. (A week ago, those percentages were 64.4% and 54.5%, respectively.)
• 73.2% of those 18 and older received at least one dose with 61.1% fully vaccinated. (Last week, those percentages were 71.8% and 60.7%, respectively.)
• 99.9% of those 65 and older received at least one dose with 92.7% fully vaccinated. (Last week’s totals were 99.9% and 92.1%, respectively.)

Where to get tested

The state Health Department has extended the COVID testing site in Centre County through Nov. 13. The site opened in September was originally scheduled to operate until Oct. 31. Testing is available at the former Sears Auto Center at the Nittany Mall through a partnership with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare. The free, indoor walk-in site is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

“The fight against COVID-19 is not over as highly contagious variants continue spreading,” acting Health Secretary Alison Beam said in a statement Oct. 29. “Testing is the best way to identify and help stop the spread of the virus.”

The site is available to anyone who thinks they need a test, the Health Department said. As many as 450 people can be tested each day, and results are available in one to three days.

Following the cases

Cases were again concentrated in the Bellefonte and State College areas during the past week, with the next highest total in Howard.

Rockview state prison had two additional active COVID cases, along with an active case reported the previous week, the Corrections Department dashboard showed.

Here’s a breakdown of the total number of confirmed cases in each ZIP code that is partially or fully in Centre County, according to the state Health Department. The number of cases reported between Oct. 22 and 29 is in parentheses.

• 16801 (State College): 6,297 (36)
• 16823 (Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap): 3,402 (49)
• 16803 (State College): 1,757 (24)
• 16686 (Tyrone): 1,626 (45)
• 16802 (University Park): 1,548 (4)
• 16866 (Philipsburg): 1,125 (17)
• 16870 (Port Matilda): 686 (15)
• 16841 (Howard): 597 (23)
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 419 (9)
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 406 (4)
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 397 (6)
• 16845 (Karthaus): 322 (2)
• 16844 (Julian): 302 (10)
• 16666 (Osceola Mills): 298 (4)
• 16822 (Beech Creek): 294 (11)
• 16853 (Milesburg): 167 (1)
• 16877 (Warriors Mark): 165 (4)
• 16874 (Snow Shoe): 149 (1)
• 16826 (Blanchard): 131 (3)
• 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 113 (3)
• 16829 (Clarence): 103 (1)
• 16854 (Millheim): 103 (2)
• 16820 (Aaronsburg): 100 (1)
• 16872 (Rebersburg): 87 (0)
• 16851 (Lemont): 81 (9)
• 16859 (Moshannon): 56 (1)
• 16832 (Coburn): 52 (5)
• 16677 (Sandy Ridge): 44 (0)
• 16860 (Munson): 37 (1)
• 16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 36 (1)
• 16835 (Unionville): 33 (3)
• 16852 (Madisonburg): 32 (1)
• 16856 (Mingoville): 31 (0)
• 16882 (Woodward): 18 (0)
• 16864 (Orviston): 14 (0)
• 16804 (State College): 12 (0)

New look at nursing homes

The state launched a new dashboard Oct. 29 that highlights cases, deaths and vaccinations in nursing homes. These facilities were required to report COVID data to the state and federal governments, the Health Department said, but the dashboard will use the federal data and eliminate the state reporting requirement.

The dashboard shows there have been 18 resident cases and 10 staff cases during the past four weeks at Windy Hill Village. Going back to May 2020, here’s how Centre County nursing homes have been affected by COVID-19, according to the dashboard:

Foxdale Village, Juniper Village at Brookline and The Village at Penn State lead the way on vaccination rates with 100% of residents fully vaccinated. Juniper also has 100% of its staff fully vaccinated, with Windy Hill Village close behind at 99.2%, according to the dashboard.

The Health Department said the dashboard information shows the importance of nursing home staff and residents getting vaccinated, as staff are often a bridge between cases in the community and in long-term care facilities, as they enter and leave the facilities on a daily basis.

“The (d)epartment strongly encourages stakeholders, families and loved ones, and the public, to use this data to better understand the overall picture of a facility, and to continue to encourage staff vaccinations among nursing home staff to help keep residents, staff, family members, and the community safe,” Beam said.

The picture across PA

Pennsylvania’s case numbers fell this week. From Oct. 23-29, there were 27,150 cases, a drop of 1,035 from the previous seven days. Daily case totals ranged from a low of 2,425 on Oct. 25 to a high of 4,573 on Oct. 23.

As of Oct. 29, there have been 1,557,459 cases across the state along with 5,705,629 negative tests. Statewide, 91% of people have recovered.

Hospitalizations fluctuated throughout the week, reaching a high of 2,838 on Oct. 27 before falling to the week’s low of 2,738 on Oct. 29. Compared to the previous Friday, there were 162 fewer COVID patients across Pennsylvania.

There have been 31,377 deaths, an increase of 474. The week before, there were 485 deaths.

This story was originally published October 30, 2021 at 7:13 AM with the headline "Here’s what you need to know about COVID-19 this week in Centre County and Pennsylvania."