Reopening updates: Centre County adds 5 cases of COVID-19, and other updates for Aug. 22

We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date coronavirus news as Penn State and local schools prepare to reopen. Check back for updates.

Centre County adds 5 cases of COVID-19

Centre County reported five additional cases of COVID-19 on on Saturday, according to the state Department of Health. The county has had 415 total cases; 369 cases are confirmed and 46 probable.

Pennsylvania added 796 cases, bringing its total to 128,429. Of the new cases, 115 were from Philadelphia. There have been 1,412,124 negative tests results, and the state estimates 80% of patients have recovered.

There were 18 new COVID-19-related deaths reported in Pennsylvania, bringing the total to 7,576. There have been 11 deaths attributed to Centre County.

Of the patients who have tested positive to date the age breakdown is as follows:

• 1% are ages 0-4;
• Nearly 2% are ages 5-12;
• Nearly 4% are ages 13-18;
• Nearly 10% are ages 19-24;
• Nearly 38% are ages 25-49;
• Nearly 23% are ages 50-64; and
• Nearly 23% are ages 65 or older.

According to the DOH, there have been 20,665 resident cases of COVID-19 and 4,368 cases among employees in 914 nursing and personal care homes in Pennsylvania. In Centre County, there have been cases in 34 residents and 22 employees at seven facilities.

The breakdown of confirmed Centre County cases by ZIP code is as follows, according to the DOH:

• 16801 (State College): 83
• 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 67
• 16803 (State College): 53
• 16866 (Philipsburg): 23
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 22
• 16870 (Port Matilda): 20
• 16841 (Howard): 20
• 16686 (Tyrone): 19
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 16
• 16822 (Beech Creek): 12
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 12
• 16853 (Milesburg): 6
• 16666 (Osceola Mills): 6
• 16854 (Millheim): 6
• 16844 (Julian): 6
• 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 5
• 16820 (Aaronsburg): 5
• 16802, 16804, 16829, 16832, 16845, 16851, 16852, 16860, 16868, 16872, 16874, 16877, 16882: 1-4 cases each.

The state does not give specific numbers when there are fewer than five cases to protect patient privacy and does not identify exactly where a case occurred in a ZIP code that spans multiple counties.

The state’s dashboard shows no patients are hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Centre County.

- by Lauren Muthler

First day of school delayed for State College Area School District students

State College Area School District students will get a little bit more time in their summer vacation.

The first day of in-person school has been pushed back one day to Wednesday, Superintendent Bob O’Donnell wrote in a letter to parents and guardians. The first day of synchronous online learning for K-5 students will be Friday.

“If you recall, we anticipated this need earlier in the summer and shifted two in-service days to this month to prepare,” he said. “But in the end, we found we need even more time to carry out the plan.”

Some of the challenges, according to O’Donnell, include the installation of and training for new instructional technologies, adjustments to the secondary student schedule, and changing the K-12 educational model selections. Faculty and staff have been back at school preparing for classes to begin since Tuesday.

- by Lauren Muthler

Penn State launches COVID-19 dashboard to track test results; 148 test positive pre-arrival

Penn State on Friday launched its COVID-19 dashboard, which updates weekly — campus-by-campus — its positive cases and testing numbers, while also announcing Friday that 148 positive cases were uncovered during pre-arrival testing.

The pre-arrival tests mean those students are not yet on campus, although that underscores a larger concern that many students could unknowingly bring the coronavirus to Happy Valley as asymptomatic carriers, meaning they show no outward signs of infection. About 24,000 pre-arrival student tests were expected to take place across all campuses — around 25% of the student population — but only about half of those test results are so far known.

According to the university, those 148 positive cases came from 12,037 tests. Another 5,005 tests are awaiting outcomes as of Thursday, meaning about 7,000 tests still hadn’t been submitted. (The breakdown specific to University Park is not known.) Those who tested positive were told to isolate for 10 days at home, until symptoms resolve and a health professional clears them.

- by Josh Moyer

Confusion, delays and disappointment: HERE State College not ready for move-in, surprising tenants

Their bags were packed, their first month’s rent paid — but some tenants are finding HERE State College, a new downtown apartment building on Hiester Street, still isn’t ready to move into.

Hope Tomacruz, a Penn State sophomore, thought everything was fine as recently as Tuesday. But she was informed Wednesday that her $1,799/month apartment wouldn’t be ready for move-in — no rooms on the 11th or 12th floors are ready, according to officials — and HERE management couldn’t provide a timeline on when she’d be able to call her paid apartment home, whether it would be a few days, weeks or months.

Due to a six-week construction delay stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the first 10 floors of the building didn’t even receive a temporary certificate of occupancy until early Friday evening, according to Tom King, assistant State College borough manager of public safety, meaning no one was able to move in before then. But those on the 11th and 12th floors, like Tomacruz, are especially out of luck.

- by Josh Moyer

PIAA votes to allow fall high school sports to begin Monday

The PIAA has made its decision.

The governing body over high school sports in Pennsylvania will allow member schools to proceed with fall sports at their own discretion beginning Monday.

The decision came during a PIAA board of directors meeting Friday afternoon and came by a 25-5 vote.

“The Board agrees the decision to compete in athletics should be made locally allowing for each school entity to decide whether to proceed and which sports to sponsor,” the PIAA’s release said. “As the health and safety of students is paramount in moving forward with athletics, the Board believes that through each member schools’ adherence to their developed school and safety plans and the PIAA Return to Competition guidelines sports can continue.”

- by Jon Sauber

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This story was originally published August 22, 2020 at 12:57 PM.