Reopening updates: Centre County adds 12 cases of COVID-19, and other updates for Sept. 8

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No decision made on remote instruction, as Penn State’s COVID-19 cases nearly double since last update

Penn State’s total number of COVID-19 cases at University Park nearly doubled since the last dashboard update, boosting the total number of infected Tuesday to 416, while the university president continues to weigh a potential move to remote instruction.

According to data from the dashboard, 42 students tested positive between Friday and Sunday while another 163 students tested positive from past pending results — mostly from last week — that were updated by Tuesday.

“We continue to be concerned with the numbers, and we will continue to assess our status this week as the results from tests administered later in the weekend are returned,” President Eric Barron said in a written statement. “We know our community is anxious, but these data are just some of the many variables we consider every day in determining our next steps.”

- by Josh Moyer

Centre County adds 12 cases of COVID-19

Centre County reported 12 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, according to the Department of Health, to bring the county’s total to 686 since March 20. Overall, 638 cases are confirmed and 48 are probable. There have been 16,886 negative tests. The rate of cases per 100,000 residents is 421.4.

In Pennsylvania, there have been 140,359 cases, including 496 new positives Tuesday. There have been 1.61 million negative tests statewide, and an estimated 81% of patients have recovered. Eleven additional deaths were reported Tuesday to bring the total to 7,791. There have been 11 deaths in Centre County related to COVID-19.

The age breakdown of patients who have tested positive across the state is:

• Approximately 1% are 0-4
• Nearly 2% are 5-12
• Approximately 4% are 13-18
• Approximately 11% are 19-24
• Nearly 37% are 25-49
• Approximately 22% are 50-64
• Approximately 23% are 65 or older

There is one patient hospitalized in Centre County due to COVID-19, according to the state dashboard.

Across the state, there have been 21,464 resident cases and 4,615 employee cases at 948 nursing and personal care homes in 61 counties. In Centre County, there have been cases in 37 residents and 23 employees at eight facilities.

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

• 16801 (State College): 249 confirmed (8 new cases), 19 probable
• 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 74, 6 probable
• 16803 (State College): 64, 6 probable
• 16802 (University Park): 62 (1 new case), 0 probable
• 16686 (Tyrone): 31 (1 new case), 0 probable
• 16866 (Philipsburg): 26, 1-4 probable
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 23, 0 probable
• 16841 (Howard): 23, 1-4 probable
• 16870 (Port Matilda): 21, 1-4 probable
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 17, 0 probable
• 16822 (Beech Creek): 12, 0 probable
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 13, 1-4 probable
• 16666 (Osceola Mills): 8, 1-4 probable
• 16851 (Lemont): 7, 0 probable
• 16853 (Milesburg): 7, 0 probable
• 16844 (Julian): 6, 0 probable
• 16854 (Millheim): 6, 1-4 probable
• 16877 (Warriors Mark): 5, 0 probable
• 16820 (Aaronsburg): 5, 1-4 probable
• 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 5, 0 probable
• 16804, 16829, 16832, 16845, 16852, 16860, 16868, 16872, 16874, 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.

- by Matt Hymowitz

Wolf relaxes restrictions on indoor dining in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania restaurants will be allowed to seat more patrons inside after Gov. Tom Wolf announced Monday he is relaxing restrictions on indoor dining.

Restaurants may increase indoor occupancy from 25% to 50% of capacity starting Sept. 21, more than two months after the administration first reimposed pandemic restrictions on the state’s beleaguered hospitality industry in response to a spike in virus infections.

- The Associated Press

Penn State puts School of Nursing students in Hershey under 10-day quarantine after COVID-19 cases

All of the Penn State School of Nursing undergraduate students in Hershey have been placed under at least a 10-day mandatory quarantine — largely as a precautionary measure — after a rise in COVID-19 cases last week, the university confirmed.

According to a College of Medicine spokesperson, there were six confirmed COVID-19 cases among nursing students in Hershey last week after they had arrived for their clinical rotations at the medical center. Three other cases were suspected positive, out of a Hershey campus undergraduate nursing population of 144.

The undergrad nursing students will be quarantined until at least Sept. 14. They will be tested this week and, if positive, will face a longer quarantine.

- by Josh Moyer

Campus check-in

• Leaders of six state legislatures in the Big Ten footprint have sent a letter to Commissioner Kevin Warren asking the conference to reconsider its decision to cancel the fall football season. The letter is written on the letterhead of Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and also signed by statehouse leaders from Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

• Coastal Carolina of the Sun Belt Conference has gotten approval from the state of South Carolina to have up to 5,000 people at its home football games this fall.

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This story was originally published September 8, 2020 at 10:00 AM.