Reopening updates: Centre County adds 55 cases of COVID-19, and other updates for Sept. 10
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COVID-19 expert: Many ‘are worried about Centre County’ as pandemic worsens. Here’s why
entre County’s significant rise in COVID-19 cases hasn’t yet directly impacted the lives of most residents: The local hospital isn’t full. A majority of schools remain open. Non-essential work continues.
But, if current trends continue, that might not last through the fall
Dr. David Rubin, director of PolicyLab at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, helped develop a COVID-19 model that, he said, shows both Penn State and the county must take “bold action” now before the virus overwhelms the area. That doesn’t mean the county is on an inevitable collision course with disaster — with the right mitigation strategies, the county should still be OK — but it does mean there is serious cause for concern, if the county’s 439 new cases this month (925 overall) don’t already make that evident.
- by Josh Moyer
First known COVID-19 case confirmed in a Centre County school this fall
The first known COVID-19 case in a Centre County school has been confirmed.
A student in the Young Scholars of Central Pennsylvania Charter School has contracted the coronavirus, CEO and Principal Levent Kaya confirmed Thursday. The school, which is operating remotely this week, was notified of the case Wednesday.
“As soon as we were informed, we notified our school community, leaders of the school around us and the district of residence of the student who tested positive,” Kaya wrote in an email. “We reached out to the Department of Health and provided information to help with the contact tracing process.”
- by Marley Parish
Centre County adds 55 cases of COVID-19
Centre County added 55 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, according to the state Department of Health, which stands as the county’s second highest one-day increase. The highest one-day total so far came Wednesday, with 184 new cases.
The rate of cases per 100,000 residents is 568.2, a number that has soared during the past week. From Aug. 28-Sept. 3, the county’s incidence rate per 100,000 was 105; from Aug. 21-27, the rate was 19. In surrounding counties: Huntingdon has a rate of 861.2; Blair has a rate of 413.1; Clearfield has a rate of 333.8; Clinton has a rate of 426.5; Union has a rate of 928.9; and Mifflin has a rate of 382.9. In the hard-hit southeastern part of the state, Delaware County has a rate of 1,906.5 and Philadelphia has a rate of 1,900.8.
All of Thursday’s Centre County cases are confirmed — in all, the county has had 925 total cases (877 confirmed and 48 probable) along with 18,921 negative tests.
The breakdown of cases by Centre County ZIP code is as follows, according to the DOH:
- 16801 (State College): 421 confirmed (35 new cases), 19 probable
- 16802 (University Park): 107 (10 new cases), 0 probable
- 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 76 (2 new cases), 6 probable
- 16803 (State College): 73 (1 new case), 6 probable
- 16686 (Tyrone): 32, 0 probable
- 16866 (Philipsburg): 26, 1-4 probable
- 16875 (Spring Mills): 23, 0 probable
- 16841 (Howard): 23 (1 fewer case), 1-4 probable
- 16870 (Port Matilda): 21, 1-4 probable
- 16827 (Boalsburg): 18, 0 probable
- 16828 (Centre Hall): 14 (1 new case), 1-4 probable
- 16822 (Beech Creek): 13, 0 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.
One patient is hospitalized in Centre County due to COVID-19, according to the state dashboard.
Pennsylvania added 587 positive cases to bring the state total to 141,877. There have been 1.64 million negative tests and an estimated recovery rate of 82% overall. Between Sept. 3 and Wednesday, there were 5,679 new cases out of 20,979 tests given.
The age breakdown of patients who have tested positive to this point 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
- Nearly 23% are 65 or older
There have been 7,820 deaths, including 15 new fatalities reported Thursday. Centre County’s total stayed at 11 deaths.
- by Matt Hymowitz
Wolf to veto Legislature’s bill on school sports
Gov. Tom Wolf will veto another coronavirus-related bill, this time one that would give a school district or private school sole authority to decide whether and how to conduct sports during the 2020-21 school year, his office said Wednesday.
The bill passed the state Senate on Wednesday, 39-11, a week after it passed the House, the latest way that the Republican-controlled Legislature has tried to limit powers Wolf has used under health and emergency disaster laws during the pandemic to limit crowds and activities.
- The Associated Press
Penn State pauses team activities for ‘several programs’ after 48 new positive COVID-19 results
Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics announced Wednesday it has “paused team activities for several programs and initiated standard isolation and precautionary quarantine” after its eighth round of COVID-19 test results revealed 48 new positives out of 920 tests conducted from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4.
The department disclosed neither the teams that had paused activities nor the identities of the individuals to test positive. It did state that it did not believe the transmission of COVID-19 occurred during team activities.
- by Parth Upadhyaya
Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society cancels Fall Foliage, Santa Express rides due to COVID-19
A popular train ride that traditionally gives hundreds of children an opportunity to meet some of their favorite Christmas characters was canceled Tuesday.
The Bellefonte Historical Railroad Society canceled its Fall Foliage and Santa Express outings because of COVID-19 mitigation efforts, the nonprofit wrote in a Facebook post.
- by Bret Pallotto
As Centre County COVID-19 numbers climb, local schools assess potential changes to instruction
While State College Area students are learning remotely, other Centre County school districts are debating making changes to their instructional plans as community COVID-19 cases continue to rise.
Centre County reached the state Department of Health’s “substantial level” — the highest level of community transmission of the coronavirus — last week. In this stage, the state recommends all county K-12 schools shut down and revert to “full remote learning.” According to the DOH early warning dashboard, Centre County has the second-highest incidence rate in the state per 100,000 residents in the most recent week.
SCASD closed facilities Friday so officials could monitor case numbers in the community, most of which are connected to Penn State students.
- by Marley Parish
Campus check-in
Rutgers says four student-athletes and a member of its athletic staff have tested positive for COVID-19.
Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez says the school’s football and men’s hockey teams are taking a two-week break from team activities as part of the school’s COVID-19 testing protocols.
Middle Tennessee is allowing 20% fan capacity, or about 7,000 fans, inside Floyd Stadium on Sept. 19 for the Blue Raiders’ home opener against Troy.
LSU has decided to allow fans to occupy up to 25% of 102,000-seat Tiger Stadium for its home football opener against Mississippi State on Sept. 26.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the Oklahoma State athletic department to lay off 10 employees and put 66 in a furlough program as apart of a plan that will remove about $13 million from its budget.
Minnesota is dropping men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, gymnastics and tennis because of budget concerns brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
Washington laid off 16 employees and instituted furloughs or reductions in hours for another 35 employees as part of a second round of cost-saving measures by the school.
The University of Texas will require students to pass a COVID-19 test before they’ll be allowed to attend the No. 14 Longhorns’ season opener against UTEP on Saturday night.
Kentucky will limit seating at Kroger Field this season to 20% of capacity, about 12,200, with physical distancing for its five Southeastern Conference home games.
Boston College has suspended activities for its men’s and women’s swimming and diving program after some team members tested positive for the coronavirus.
In a statement released by Ohio State on Thursday, coach Ryan Day said he and his players and their families want some details about if and when the conference plans to start a season that was postponed a month ago because of concerns about playing through the pandemic.
More than 600 students at the University of Alabama have been sanctioned – including 33 who were effectively suspended – for violating rules intended to curb the spread of COVID-19 cases on campus, a school spokesman said Thursday.
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This story was originally published September 10, 2020 at 10:19 AM.