Centre County Coroner’s Office confirms 8th death attributed to COVID-19
An eighth death attributed to the new coronavirus was confirmed Wednesday by the Centre County Coroner’s Office.
A long-term care facility resident in the 16803 ZIP code died Monday, county Coroner Scott Sayers wrote in a statement. The 101-year-old woman was a resident of Wynwood House at State College, facility owner Vincent Romanini said Wednesday.
The woman did not contract the disease at the facility, Romanini said.
The woman’s death was the first attributed to COVID-19 by the county coroner’s office since July 28. Ages have ranged from 74 to 101.
The state Department of Health did not report Wednesday any new deaths in Centre County. Its tally, which has not changed since mid-August, remained at 11.
The exact reason for the weekslong discrepancy remains unclear, but state Health Department spokesperson Nate Wardle offered some insight in a written statement.
The department identifies deaths by county of legal residence, not by where the death happened. Coroners may identify deaths by where they happened, which is not used for public health practices, Wardle wrote.
“We know that there are many large hospitals in the state, and so to identify deaths by the jurisdiction in which an individual dies would skew the data reporting,” Wardle wrote.
About two-thirds of the state’s 8,142 deaths have been reported in nursing or personal care homes.
Forty-five residents and 26 employees across 11 facilities in Centre County tested positive for the disease, according to the DOH. Eight deaths have been reported.
Cases of COVID-19 in Centre County ballooned in September. The county reported 2,224 cases in September, more than four times as many as the county reported in March through August combined.
A majority of the cases were reported in State College or University Park ZIP codes. Penn State began fall semester classes Aug. 24.
The county has reported the highest incidence rate and testing positivity rate in the state for weeks, according to the state’s early warning dashboard.
Hospitalizations have also increased since Friday. Six patients are hospitalized as of Wednesday, according to the DOH.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 4:30 PM.