Mount Nittany Health urges caution amid rise of COVID-19 omicron variant in community

Centre County health officials urged residents to take precautions as cases of the COVID-19 omicron variant increase throughout the community and nation.

Penn State announced earlier this week that the variant had been detected on campus. Mount Nittany Health said in a statement Dec. 23 that omicron is starting “to outpace the Delta variant in community transmission.”

Some data shows omicron may cause less severe illness than delta, but many questions remain, Mount Nittany said. Dr. Upendra Thaker, chief medical officer at Mount Nittany Medical Center, said omicron “is at least two to three times more transmissible than the Delta variant, so it’s spreading very rapidly. Anyone who is exposed is very likely to spread it to others.”

Those who previously had COVID could become infected with the omicron variant, Thaker said.

“With this variant being so new, we do not know how it will affect patients with comorbidities like obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The preliminary data from South Africa and other countries shows healthy adults often have less severe illness with Omicron,” he said. “However, it is unclear what happens with people with other comorbid conditions. With one or more comorbidities, we could see more severe infections of the American population.”

The health system called on community members to practice safety measures during holiday celebrations this weekend, such as avoiding large indoor gatherings, wearing a mask and washing hands.

“The vaccination and booster shot are the best way to protect yourself,” Mount Nittany Health said. “If you experience any symptoms like fever, cough, chills, body aches, headaches and/or loss of taste or smell, seek testing and isolate yourself from others.”

Hospitalizations continue to strain health system

Mount Nittany Health has made changes in response to patient demand, such as postponing elective surgeries requiring an overnight stay as well as all endoscopy procedures through Jan. 3. Patients can expect longer waits in the emergency department, and those in the hospital are allowed one visitor per day between 2 and 6 p.m.

Mount Nittany Medical Center was treating 57 COVID patients between ages 22 and 95 on Dec. 23. Of that total, 41 patients were not vaccinated. There were five patients in intensive care and two on ventilators, according to the dashboard.

This month, there has been a daily average of 59 patients and a total of 178.

Centre County added 616 COVID-19 cases this past week, which pushed the monthly total to its highest level since January.

So far in December, there have been 2,117 cases. That’s the second highest total of the year, after January’s 2,315.

As of Dec. 23, the county has reported a total of 24,917 cases (22,466 confirmed and 2,451 probable), along with 86,377 negative tests.

There have been eight additional deaths, which brings the total to 281. So far this month, there have been 23 deaths — that’s the highest total since January.

Where are new cases in Centre County?

New cases were concentrated in State College and Bellefonte this past week.

Between Dec. 17 and 23, there were 23 new cases at Rockview state prison and one new case at Benner state prison, according to the Corrections Department dashboard.

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 Dec. 17 and 23 is in parentheses.

• 16801 (State College): 6,956 (181)
• 16823 (Bellefonte/Pleasant Gap): 4,379 (104)
• 16803 (State College): 2,092 (86)
• 16686 (Tyrone): 1,967 (21)
• 16802 (University Park): 1,668 (30)
• 16866 (Philipsburg): 1,434 (29)
• 16870 (Port Matilda): 823 (26)
• 16841 (Howard): 757 (8)
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 534 (18)
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 514 (4)
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 478 (12)
• 16666 (Osceola Mills): 409 (7)
• 16844 (Julian): 396 (9)
• 16845 (Karthaus): 393 (9)
• 16822 (Beech Creek): 387 (5)
• 16853 (Milesburg): 210 (5)
• 16877 (Warriors Mark): 207 (3)
• 16874 (Snow Shoe): 204 (8)
• 16826 (Blanchard): 176 (3)
• 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 138 (2)
• 16820 (Aaronsburg): 132 (2)
• 16854 (Millheim): 132 (1)
• 16829 (Clarence): 127 (2)
• 16872 (Rebersburg): 111 (2)
• 16851 (Lemont): 97 (4)
• 16859 (Moshannon): 70 (1)
• 16832 (Coburn): 64 (1)
• 16677 (Sandy Ridge): 55 (0)
• 16860 (Munson): 47 (1)
• 16868 (Pine Grove Mills): 46 (1)
• 16856 (Mingoville): 37 (0)
• 16835 (Unionville): 36 (0)
• 16852 (Madisonburg): 35 (0)
• 16882 (Woodward): 28 (2)
• 16864 (Orviston): 15 (0)
• 16804 (State College): 14 (1)
• 16805 (State College): 1-4 (The state does not provide specific numbers when there are fewer than five cases to protect patient privacy.)

The testing site at the former Sears Auto Center in State College will be open from 10 a.m. to 7 p..m. Dec. 27-29.

Cases, hospitalizations remain high across PA

Pennsylvania added more than 50,000 cases and 777 deaths this week.

As of Dec. 23, there have been 1,924,507 cases and 6,042,953 negative tests. Statewide, 89% of people have recovered.

Hospitalizations fell from a high of 4,552 during the week to 4,476 on Dec. 23. The number of total patients across the state is up by about 530 since the start of the month.

This story was originally published December 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Mount Nittany Health urges caution amid rise of COVID-19 omicron variant in community."