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Number of COVID-19 cases in Centre County in January already breaking record
Today, Mount Nittany Medical Center is caring for 44 COVID-19 inpatients ranging in age from 25 to 93 years old. The average daily census of COVID-positive inpatients in January to date is 45.
According to Pennsylvania Department of Health data, just 14 days into January, Centre County has already surpassed its record for the highest number of confirmed positive cases in a month at 3,243. The previous record, set in December of 2021, was 3,154 confirmed positive cases.
Mount Nittany Health is monitoring the surge in COVID-19 cases and continuing to make daily operational adjustments to meet patient demand. While elective surgeries requiring an overnight stay at the Medical Center have resumed on a limited basis, community members may continue to experience longer than normal wait times when using the emergency department.
“We’ve been prepared to see the daily case numbers increase following the holidays,” says Upendra Thaker, MD, chief medical officer. “We are in an extremely volatile environment with regards to community spread. We cannot stress enough the importance of mitigation measures right now. Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself from serious illness related to COVID-19. If you are vaccinated, make sure to get a booster shot.”
While early data indicates that infection from the COVID-19 Omicron variant may lead to less severe illness for healthy individuals, others with conditions such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, or a weakened immune system, could experience more severe illness. Vaccination is key to reducing the severity of illness.
The physicians, nurses and staff at Mount Nittany Health ask the community to continue precautions to slow the surge of the virus.
- Avoid large indoor gatherings.
- Wear a mask.
- Wash your hands.
- Get vaccinated.
- If you are already vaccinated, get a booster shot, and continue to wear a mask if spending time in crowded indoor public spaces.
If you experience any symptoms like fever, cough, chills, scratchy throat, body aches, headaches and/or loss of taste or smell, seek testing and isolate yourself from others.
Mount Nittany Medical Center Visitation
As of Saturday, January 15, the Medical Center is revising its visitation policy, allowing one visitor at a time per patient between the hours of 2:00 – 6:00 pm daily, with some exceptions. Both inpatients and visitors must mask during the visit. Complete visitation guidelines are on mountnittany.org.
Vaccination Opportunities
Mount Nittany Health offers COVID vaccination opportunities for patients of Mount Nittany Physician Group. Patients may schedule a Pfizer BioNTech vaccine or booster through their primary care provider. Visit our patient information page to learn more. The CDC recently updated its recommendation for booster doses of the Pfizer vaccine. For other community vaccination locations, visit the vaccines.gov website.
COVID Testing
The Pennsylvania Department of Health is offering no-cost COVID-19 testing at the Centre County Recycling & Refuse Authority at 253 Transfer Road in State College. The site will be open 10:00 am – 7:00 pm Tuesday through Saturday. Anyone seeking testing, regardless of age or residency, may use this site. You can also find additional testing sites on the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services website.
Beginning January 19, the current COVID-19 testing site located at Mount Nittany Health – Blue Course Drive will relocate to an outdoor, drive-through location on the Mount Nittany Medical Center campus on the ground level (lowest level) of the parking garage. You must have an appointment and a physician’s order for testing. To schedule an appointment, call 814.234.6106. Please note that this site will not be utilized for COVID-19 testing prior to surgery.
Thank your local healthcare workers
Community members are joining Mount Nittany Health at courageousatheart.org in thanking our healthcare workers who continue working tirelessly on the frontlines through the COVID-19 pandemic. Please feel free to add your own well wishes.
