Reopening updates: Centre County adds 2 cases of COVID-19, and other updates for Aug. 23
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 2 cases of COVID-19
Centre County reported two new cases of COVID-19, the Department of Health said Sunday. The county’s case total is 417, with 371 confirmed and 46 probable. There have been 11,594 negative tests.
Pennsylvania added 619 new cases to bring the state’s total to 129,048. There have been 1.42 million negative tests and an estimatd 80% recovery rate. Allegheny County reported 86 new cases, while Philadelphia County added 80 cases.
The state reported 7,578 deaths, an increase of two from the previous day. Of the state’s total, 5,126 have been in residents of long-term care facilities. Eleven deaths have been counted in Centre County.
The age breakdown of patients who have tested positive is:
- 1% are 0-4
- Nearly 2% are 5-12
- Nearly 4% are 13-18
- Nearly 10% are 19-24
- Nearly 38% are 25-49
- Nearly 23% are 50-64
- 23% are 65 or older
There have been 20,708 cases in residents and 4,387 cases among employees at 915 nursing and personal care homes in 61 counties. In Centre County, there have been 34 resident cases, 22 employee cases and eight deaths at seven facilities.
The breakdown of confirmed Centre County cases by ZIP code is as follows, according to the DOH:
- 16801 (State College): 84
- 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 67
- 16803 (State College): 53
- 16866 (Philipsburg): 24
- 16875 (Spring Mills): 22
16686 (Tyrone): 22
- 16870 (Port Matilda): 20
- 16841 (Howard): 20
- 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 list any COVID-19 hospitalizations in Centre County.
- by Matt Hymowitz
A year without the Centre County Grange Fair holds some silver linings for 4-H students
The fairgrounds across from Jordan Anderson’s house in Centre Hall should have been abuzz with livestock, the chatter of auctioneers, music from the grandstand, children shrieking and vendors hawking food and games.
But, as mid-August approached, they remained silent.
And that meant that the animals — dairy cows, pigs, and lambs — she had worked so hard to raise this year, animals whom for months she fed and cared for, could not be shown to judges nor sold to interested buyers making their rounds at the summer’s circuit of county fairs.
- by Sarah Paez
Penn State’s James Franklin: Current NCAA model not in ‘best interest’ of college football
ames Franklin thinks college football isn’t being played on a level playing field amid the coronavirus pandemic. And Penn State’s seventh-year head coach believes that could impact the landscape of the sport moving forward.
While some programs around the country are gearing up to play a season next month, other teams — like the ones in the Big Ten — are limited in their weekly practice hours. The NCAA’s Division I council approved new rules Wednesday for teams not competing this fall, allowing them to participate in up to 12 hours of activities per week starting Monday. This model, first recommended by the NCAA Football Oversight Committee, includes time for strength and conditioning, meetings, and five hours of on-field activities with helmets.
- by Parth Upadhyaya
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
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This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 10:16 AM.