COVID-19 cases rise as hospitalizations fall in Centre County, Pennsylvania

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

From Nov. 6-12, there were 315 reported cases, an increase of 54 compared to the previous seven days. Daily totals ranged from a low of 24 on Nov. 8 to a high of 71 on Nov. 11.

As of Nov. 12, there have been a total of 21,189 cases — 19,163 confirmed and 2,026 probable — along with 83,518 negative tests.

The state Health Department reported two additional deaths, one Nov. 9 and another Nov. 11, to bring the county’s total to 248.

Tracking Centre County cases

Almost a third of the county’s cases during the past week were in the 16823 ZIP code.

Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap led the county with 101 cases. The State College and Philipsburg areas had the county’s next highest totals.

As of Nov. 12, there were 18 active inmate cases and two active staff cases at Benner state prison, according to the state Department of Corrections dashboard. There were no active inmate cases and six active staff cases at Rockview state prison.

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 Nov. 5 and 12 is in parentheses.

• 16801 (State College): 6,365 (32)
• 16823 (Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap): 3,548 (101)
• 16803 (State College): 1,805 (22)
• 16686 (Tyrone): 1,700 (37)
• 16802 (University Park): 1,556 (6)
• 16866 (Philipsburg): 1,158 (23)
• 16870 (Port Matilda): 704 (11)
• 16841 (Howard): 626 (6)
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 436 (7)
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 428 (12)
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 412 (10)
• 16845 (Karthaus): 323 (0)
• 16822 (Beech Creek): 321 (13)
• 16844 (Julian): 317 (7)
• 16666 (Osceola Mills): 313 (12)
• 16877 (Warriors Mark): 173 (5)
• 16853 (Milesburg): 172 (2)
• 16874 (Snow Shoe): 153 (2)
• 16826 (Blanchard): 135 (2)
• 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 117 (4)
• 16829 (Clarence): 113 (3)
• 16854 (Millheim): 106 (0)
• 16820 (Aaronsburg): 104 (2)
• 16872 (Rebersburg): 95 (7)
• 16851 (Lemont): 85 (2)
• 16859 (Moshannon): 59 (1)
• 16832 (Coburn): 54 (1)
• 16677 (Sandy Ridge): 46 (1)
• 16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 40 (2)
• 16860 (Munson): 39 (1)
• 16835 (Unionville): 33 (0)
• 16852 (Madisonburg): 32 (0)
• 16856 (Mingoville): 31 (0)
• 16882 (Woodward): 19 (1)
• 16864 (Orviston): 14 (0)
• 16804 (State College): 12 (0)

Hospitalizations fall in Centre County

COVID hospitalizations fell to their lowest level at Mount Nittany Medical Center in at least seven weeks. The hospital was treating 26 COVID patients between the ages of 19 and 87 on Nov. 12, according to Mount Nittany’s dashboard. Three patients were in intensive care and two were on ventilators. Of the total, 19 were not vaccinated.

During the past week, COVID hospitalizations reached a high of 34, and patients ranged in age from 19 to 91.

Checking in on nursing homes

The Nov. 12 update of the state’s nursing home dashboard shows there were between one and four resident cases at Embassy of Hearthside and Windy Hill Village during the past four weeks. The state doesn’t identify specific case totals when they’re less than five. Centre Care, Foxdale Village, Juniper Village at Brookline and The Village at Penn State all reported zero resident cases during that period.

Centre Care, Foxdale Village, The Village at Penn State and Windy Hill Village all had one to four staff cases during the past four weeks. Embassy of Hearthside and Juniper Village reported zero staff cases during that time, according to the dashboard.

Vaccination update

The entire state of Pennsylvania remained under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s high level of community transmission as of Nov. 12.

Among Pennsylvanians 18 and older, 72.9% were fully vaccinated, the CDC said. A week ago, that figure was 72.3%.

The CDC said that in Centre County:

• 68.9% of the total population received at least one vaccine dose (last week’s figure: 66.9%) with 55.5% fully vaccinated (last week: 55.2%).
  
  
• 76% of those 18 and older received at least one dose (last week: 74.7%) with 61.7% fully vaccinated (last week: 61.5%).
  
  
• 99.9% of those 65 and older received at least one dose (last week: 99.9%) with 93.6% fully vaccinated (last week: 93.3%).

Cases rise across PA

The Health Department began including reinfections in the case count this week to comply with national standards. Under the revised national definition — which went into effect this year and is being applied in Pennsylvania this month — people who test positive for COVID at least 90 days apart will be counted again as reinfection cases. Previously, positive individuals were only counted once.

The statewide count added 1,667 reinfection cases from Philadelphia on Nov. 10. Reinfection data from the rest of the state’s counties will be reported Nov. 15.

Excluding the reinfections, there were 31,727 cases from Nov. 6-12; that marks an increase of 3,710 from the previous week. Daily totals ranged from a low of 3,254 on Nov. 8 to a high of 5,555 on Nov. 12.

As of Nov. 12, there have been a total of 1,618,870 cases, along with 5,800,806 negative tests. Statewide, 92% of people have recovered.

There have been 32,279 deaths, an increase of 424. There were 478 deaths during the previous week.

The average number of hospitalizations is decreasing across the state, the Health Department said. The total number of patients is down almost 150 from the start of the month, though this week’s number rose, fell and rose again. The total patient count on Nov. 12 was 2,609, which was up 33 from the previous Friday.

This story was originally published November 13, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "COVID-19 cases rise as hospitalizations fall in Centre County, Pennsylvania."