Reopening updates: Pennsylvania adds more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases, with 4 in Centre County

We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date coronavirus news now that Centre County is in the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to reopen Pennsylvania. Check back for updates.

Centre County reports 4 new COVID-19 cases

Pennsylvania reported more than 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the highest daily increase since May 10. Centre County added four positive cases, bringing the total to 239 since March 20. The Department of Health reported 93,876 cases across the state, including 1,009 new positives.

The county has seen 38 new cases in July; during the first 10 days of June, Centre County had five cases. Of Centre County’s total cases, 223 are confirmed and 16 are probable. There have been 5,337 negative tests as of Friday.

There were 32 new deaths across the state linked to COVID-19, DOH said, raising the total to 6,880 as of Friday. The state reported eight deaths in Centre County, while the coroner’s office has confirmed six.

About 175 of the cases reported Friday were not from the past day but were from a batch of private lab results, the state said. Philadelphia and Allegheny County accounted for about 360 of the new cases. In the past seven days, 128,821 tests were given and 4,793 came back positive. According to the DOH’s early warning dashboard, the state has a seven-day (July 3-9) positivity rate of 4.4%. During the previous seven days (June 26-July 2), the state’s positivity rate was 4.5%.

Centre County saw 21 cases in the past seven days, three more than in the prior seven days. The positivity rate declined (2.3% compared to 2.6%) as did average daily COVID-19 hospitalizations (0.9 vs. 1.4).

The Health Department again noted that cases have increased among younger people, especially 19- to 24-year-olds. In the north-central region, which includes Centre County, cases have risen in that age group from about 8% in April to about 11% in July. In the southwest region, which includes Allegheny County, cases have increased from about 5% to about 27%. Cases in the Philadelphia area have jumped from about 5% to about 16%.

There are 18,164 cases in nursing and personal care home residents and 3,428 cases among employees at 737 facilities in Pennsylvania, the DOH said.

In Centre County, here’s the breakdown by ZIP code:

• 16801 (State College): 54
• 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 48
• 16803 (State College): 42
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 12
• 16822 (Beech Creek): 12
• 16841 (Howard): 11
• 16870 (Port Matilda): 9
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 9
• 16686 (Tyrone): 7
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 6
• 16853 (Milesburg): 6
• 16666, 16804, 16820, 16826, 16829, 16844, 16845, 16851, 16852, 16860, 16865, 16866, 16868, 16872: 1-4 cases each (The state does not give specific numbers when there are fewer than five cases to protect patient privacy. The state does not identify exactly where a case occurred in a ZIP code that spans multiple counties.)

Masks are required to be worn in all businesses and when leaving home.

- by Matt Hymowitz

‘We are very, very concerned.’ COVID-19 cases among those college-aged are on the rise in Pa.

Pennsylvania’s college-aged adults are catching COVID-19 at increasingly high levels, a trend so concerning the state Department of Health recently released a health alert — the highest-level of importance among a three-tiered system — on the pandemic’s shifting demographics.

According to the state DOH, five of the commonwealth’s six regions have seen the rate of infections among the 19-24 age group either nearly double or more than double. And that’s not welcome news for communities such as State College, which is home to the nation’s ninth-largest undergraduate population in Penn State.

University students are officially set to return Aug. 21.

- by Josh Moyer

‘It’s not easy, but worth it.’ Bellefonte Little League learning how to play ball amid pandemic

Wednesday night’s Little League baseball game between the Knights and the Lions went off without a hitch.

The two teams played a full six innings with the Knights winning 6-2 and no major incidents of players getting too close or breaking the Bellefonte Little League’s social distancing protocols during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

While the game went smoothly, that doesn’t mean the preparation to get to that point was easy. League President Bill Carey let out a laugh at how well the game went. For him, it’s never too easy, and it’s not always the young players’ faults.

- by Jon Sauber

Big Ten announces conference-only schedule for fall 2020 sports due to COVID-19

If Penn State sports happen this fall, they will be playing conference-only schedules, the Big Ten announced Thursday.

That model will affect men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey, football, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball for all conference schools. Details for each of those sports will be forthcoming, and decisions on sports not listed will continue to be evaluated.

“By limiting competition to other Big Ten institutions, the conference will have the greatest flexibility to adjust its own operations throughout the season and make quick decisions in real-time based on the most current evolving medical advice and the fluid nature of the pandemic,” the Big Ten’s statement on the matter read.

-by Jon Sauber

Campus check-in

• The University of Michigan says two athletes tested positive during a second round of COVID-19 testing, bringing the total to four out of the 375 who have been tested.

• Atlantic Coast Conference commissioner John Swofford says the league expects to make its decision on fall sports in “late July.” The league put out Swofford’s statement Friday afternoon, saying the league has prepared “numerous scenarios” for fall competition over the last few months.

• Memphis is cutting 14% from its administrative and sports operation budgets. The Tigers finished 17th in the country after a loss in the Cotton Bowl against Penn State and had a game at Purdue scheduled for Sept. 12 cut by the Big Ten’s decision to play only conference games this fall.

• Virginia says two football players have tested positive for COVID-19 and will self-isolate for at least 10 days, along with other members of the program found to have come into close contact with them. The school says 110 players were tested when the player returned to campus beginning July 5 for voluntary workouts.

• The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, a conference that comprises historically black colleges, is suspending all fall sports out of concern over the COVID-19 pandemic.

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This story was originally published July 10, 2020 at 9:33 AM.