The Daily Item
As COVID-19 cases continue to remain steady, all four Valley counties have medium community transmission levels, according to the most recent data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Valley counties have had the same levels over the last four weeks.
Crawford County is the only county in the state with high levels and one of only 182 nationwide in the latest seven-day window tracked by the CDC.
Community levels are determined by using a combination of three metrics — new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past seven days.
In Pennsylvania, 31 of the state’s 67 counties had low levels, a dozen less than last week. Thirty-five Pennsylvania counties had medium levels. Nationwide, 5.6 percent of counties had high levels, 24.9 percent had medium levels and 69.5 percent had low levels.
According to data being tracked by the CDC and Johns Hopkins University, the number of coronavirus cases was down 7 percent in Pennsylvania in the last seven days, while the number of COVID-related hospitalizations was up 18 percent.
At the highest level of community spread, the CDC recommends individuals wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status, including in K-12 schools and other indoor community settings along with implementing health care surge support as needed.
Statewide, 9.9 percent of all COVID-19 tests in the last week were positive, nearly 1 percent higher than last week. All four Valley counties had lower positive test rates than the state average and were among the lowest in the state.
Montour County’s positive test rate of 3.9 percent was the fourth-lowest in the state. Snyder County came in at 6.8 percent, followed by Northumberland County at 8.1 percent and Union at 9.1.
