Saturday marked one year since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Centre County.
Nearly 14,000 Centre County residents have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. That’s about one out of every 12 residents.
The county has seen several jumps in cases throughout the year. In September, infections quintupled to more than 2,700 after Penn State students returned for the fall semester. Student and county cases have edged up again in recent days. On Thursday, the county saw 102 positive cases; that's the most since Feb. 7. Almost half of the county’s total cases have been Penn State students.
Hospitalizations peaked in December with an average of 49 per day. They’ve dropped to an average of 15 per day in March so far.
The county’s first COVID-related death took place last April. A total of 213 people have died from the virus since then.
Centre County organizations began vaccinating the public in January. Mount Nittany Health has given around 25,000 vaccines so far. Centre Volunteers in Medicine has held several thousand-person vaccine clinics.
