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DOH: Hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Cumberland County hit 180 for only the second time during the pandemic
The Sentinel - 1/20/2022
Jan. 20—As COVID-19 hospitalization and death data continue to rise for Cumberland County in January, case counts show some signs of leveling off for the county in Thursday's latest update from the State Department of Health.
Trends through the pandemic, which started in 2019, show a pattern of case counts rising first for areas, followed by increased hospitalizations and then more deaths. When case counts begin to decrease, hospitalizations and deaths eventually follow suit in the next few weeks.
That rise-and-fall pattern has proven to be rapid for the omicron variant of COVID-19 in other countries.
For Cumberland County, the latest data shows the rise in hospitalizations and deaths following the recent rise in case counts.
For only the second time during the pandemic, Cumberland County's hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reached 180 for a single day in Thursday's data update from the state Department of health.
The 180 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Thursday's report represents an increase of 16 patients since Monday. The highest pandemic hospitalization total for the county was 183 on Dec. 23, 2020. The 14-day average for hospitalizations in the county sits at 160.9, the highest rate since Jan. 7, 2021. The county's highest 14-day hospitalization rate was 168.7 on Jan. 2, 2021.
While hospital cases continue to rise, data for serious infections continue to drop this week. There are 17 adults in intensive care in Thursday's report (a decrease of 11 since Sunday) and 21 on ventilators. Eleven adult ICU beds remain open of the 110 currently staffed across the county, and 41 of 94 ventilators in the county are in use.
Along with the hospital data, Cumberland County also reported nine deaths from COVID-19 Thursday, pushing January's death total to 33. The county reported 56 deaths in October, 33 in November and 54 in December.
After peaking at 654 cases for the month on Jan. 15, case counts have dropped into the 300s for the last four days in the county according to the Health Department's open data site (a site that accounts for delayed data and data corrections from daily COVID reports). According to that open data, the seven-day average of new cases in the county sits at 452.9, down from Sunday's rate of 484.3, which was the highest seven-day rate for the county during the pandemic.
Franklin County reported 109 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 Thursday (down 39 from Monday), with four of 41 currently staffed ICU beds available in the county and 26 of 35 available ventilators in use. There are 23 adults in intensive care and 17 on ventilators.
Dauphin County reported 246 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 Thursday (an increase of two since Wednesday), with 27 of 196 currently staffed ICU beds available in the county and 102 of 174 available ventilators in use. There are 44 adults in intensive care and 35 on ventilators.
Penn State Health cases update (Jan. 19)
Penn State Health lists a COVID-19 dashboard on its website tracking cases at each of its acute care hospitals — Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center, Hampden Medical Center and Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center. The dashboard is updated every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Wednesday's update shows 234 total cases (217 adults, 17 pediatrics) in the health system's four hospitals, a decrease of eight cases since Monday. Data is incomplete for the vaccinated and unvaccinated totals because Penn State Health said the vaccination status of St. Joseph Medical Center inpatients is unavailable.
There are 17 pediatric patients, with 11 unvaccinated (two in an ICU and no one on a ventilator) and two fully vaccinated patients, with one in an ICU and one on a ventilator.
Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill has 60 COVID patients. Thirty are fully vaccinated adults (three in the ICU and one on a ventilator) and 30 are unvaccinated adults (one in the ICU and no one on a ventilator).
Hampden Medical Center has six COVID patients. Four are unvaccinated (no one in the ICU and no one on a ventilator) and two are fully vaccinated (no one in the ICU and no one on a ventilator).
Vaccine update (Jan. 19)
In data updated Wednesday evening, the CDC says 65.7% of Cumberland County's population is fully vaccinated. The CDC also reported that 69.4% of the population 5 and older is vaccinated, and 73.4% of the population 12 and older is fully vaccinated.
The CDC also reported on booster shots, saying that 34.7% of the county's fully vaccinated population has received a booster vaccine.
Early Warning Dashboard update (Jan. 14)
Cumberland County saw increases in its COVID-19 percent positivity and incidence rate per 100,000 people in the state Health Department's weekly update to its Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard this weekend.
The county's percent positivity increased to 35.7% for the week of Jan. 7-13, up from 30.1% the previous week. The incidence rate per 100,000 people increased to 887.2, up from 670.6 the previous week.
Lebanon and Dauphin counties lead the Midstate in both categories and rank in the top 10 in the state.
Lebanon County is tied for the highest positivity rate in the Midstate at 40.7% (sixth highest in the state), an increase from 36.8% the previous week, and the highest incidence rate in the Midstate at 1,571.3 (fifth highest in the state).
Dauphin County is tied for the highest positivity rate in the Midstate at 40.7% (sixth highest in the state).
Lehigh County has the highest positivity rate in the state at 48.9% and highest incidence rate in the state at 2,391.2.
Forest County had the lowest percent positivity in the state at 12.6%. Cameron County had the lowest incidence rate per 100,000 people in the state at 314.8.
School-age children
In its weekly update for the 20th week of the school year, the department reported 417 cases among children aged 5-18 in Cumberland County during the week of Jan. 5-Jan. 11, an increase of 155 cases over the previous week. The total number of cases in Cumberland County for this school year is 3,185.
Statewide, the number of cases among 5- to 18-year-olds saw its largest increase of the school year with 32,381 cases reported during the week of Jan. 5-Jan. 11, compared to 20,456 during the previous week. The state said the total number of cases in that age group for the school year is 188,813.
County numbers in the southcentral region (updated Jan. 20):
— Adams County (pop. 103,009): 151 new cases; 22,277 total cases (18,679 confirmed, 3,598 probable); 46,006 negatives; 304 deaths (+3); 53.2% of county population vaccinated
— Bedford County (pop. 47,888): 81 new cases; 9,782 total cases (6,560 confirmed, 3,222 probable); 13,421 negatives; 242 deaths (+4); 37.8% of county population vaccinated
— Blair County (pop. 121,829): 132 new cases; 25,927 total cases (20,639 confirmed, 5,288 probable); 49,809 negatives; 545 deaths (+8); 50.5% of county population vaccinated
— Cumberland County (pop. 253,370): 480 new cases; 45,074 total cases (34,347 confirmed, 10,727 probable); 108,440 negatives; 769 deaths (+9); 65.7% of county population vaccinated
— Dauphin County (pop. 278,299): 405 new cases; 53,936 total cases (45,190 confirmed, 8,746 probable); 133,137 negatives; 824 deaths (+9); 59.8% of county population vaccinated
— Franklin County (pop. 155,027): 230 new cases; 36,137 total cases (29,956 confirmed, 6,181 probable); 66,353 negatives; 599 deaths (+7); 47.1% of county population vaccinated
— Fulton County (pop. 14,530): 26 new cases; 3,637 total cases (1,867 confirmed, 1,770 probable); 5,190 negatives; 55 deaths; 34.5% of county population vaccinated
— Huntingdon County (pop. 45,144): 169 new cases; 9,899 total cases (8,211 confirmed, 1,688 probable); 22,738 negatives; 215 deaths (+2); 49.3% of county population vaccinated
— Juniata County (pop. 24,763): 22 new cases; 4,229 total cases (3,896 confirmed, 333 probable); 7,047 negatives; 158 deaths (+2); 39% of county population vaccinated
— Lebanon County (pop. 141,793): 192 new cases; 33,638 total cases (29,161 confirmed, 4,477 probable); 64,676 negatives; 435 deaths (+6); 53.2% of county population vaccinated
— Mifflin County (pop. 46,138): 116 new cases; 10,582 total cases (10,047 confirmed, 535 probable); 18,217 negatives; 251 deaths (+2); 48% of county population vaccinated
— Perry County (pop. 46,272): 66 new cases; 7,879 total cases (6,198 confirmed, 1,681 probable); 14,278 negatives; 163 deaths; 46.7% of county population vaccinated
— York County (pop. 449,058): 816 new cases; 107,537 total cases (89,524 confirmed; 18,013 probable); 200,322 negatives; 1,302 deaths (+12); 56.4% of county population vaccinated
ZIP code-level counts (updated Jan. 20):
— 17013: 5,152 positives, 16,629 negatives — +293 since Jan. 14
— 17015: 3,098 positives, 8,199 negatives — +136 since Jan. 14
— 17050: 5,036 positives, 17,710 negatives — +286 since Jan. 14
— 17055: 5,478 positives, 19,188 negatives — +327 since Jan. 14
— 17011: 5,058 positives, 15,993 negatives — +274 since Jan. 14
— 17007: 769 positives, 2,153 negatives — +40 since Jan. 14
— 17065: 577 positives, 1,438 negatives — +31 since Jan. 14
— 17324: 656 positives, 1,437 negatives — +37 since Jan. 14
— 17241: 1,444 positives, 3,583 negatives — +95 since Jan. 14
— 17257: 4,067 positives, 8,169 negatives — +329 since Jan. 14
— 17240: 388 positives, 758 negatives — +23 since Jan. 14
— 17025: 2,379 positives, 6,711 negatives — +151 since Jan. 14
— 17070: 2,211 positives, 6,210 negatives — +94 since Jan. 14
— 17043: 756 positives, 2,394 negatives — +42 since Jan. 14
— 17019: 2,597 positives, 6,322 negatives — +121 since Jan. 14
— 17266: 53 positives, 150 negatives — +6 since Jan. 14
School district and college case counts (updated Jan. 19)
The Sentinel's case counts for Cumberland County school districts and colleges or universities are updated weekly. The policy for each school district's reporting is noted in the list below.
— Big Spring School District (reports active cases in past 14 days with school exposure): 50 student cases and 12 staff cases being monitored as of Jan. 18.
— Camp Hill School District (posts chart that includes total case count): 55 student cases and 13 staff cases within a 14-day period. Chart last updated on Jan. 14.
— Carlisle Area School District (reports cases as they occur and updates a chart): 203 cases within the current 14-day rolling count, according to the chart's last update on Jan. 13.
— Cumberland Valley School District (reports Tuesday and Friday and total number of cases with school exposure): 386 cases within last 14 days, as of the chart's last update on Jan. 18.
— Mechanicsburg Area School District (chart lists total cases actively being monitored, updated Tuesday and Friday): 49 positive and presumed positive cases being monitored as of Jan. 18.
— Shippensburg Area School District (reports weekly and total confirmed case counts involving school exposure): 180 confirmed cases in the last 14 days, as of chart's last update on Jan. 18.
— South Middleton School District (posts notices as cases occur, updates table of case counts weekly on Fridays): 56 confirmed cases in the last 14 days, as of the chart's last update on Jan. 14.
— West Shore School District (reports active cases with school exposure within past 14 days): 229 student cases and 52 staff cases being monitored as of Jan. 18.
— Dickinson College: 9 current student positives and 9 current employee positives; 16 cumulative student positives and 14 cumulative employee positives since spring term opened campus Jan. 5. Chart last updated on Jan. 19.
— Messiah University: 124 cumulative student cases and 20 cumulative employee cases in the spring semester (starting Dec. 30); 139 student cases and 56 employee cases in the fall semester (started Aug. 7). Chart updated every weekday at 5 p.m.
— Shippensburg University: 92 student positives in the last week; since Jan. 1, 171 cumulative positives, 24 cumulative employee positives. Chart last updated on Jan. 17.
COVID-19 Early Warning Monitoring System Dashboard (Jan. 7-13):
(Counties with a percent positivity above 5% in a week go on the Department of Health's watch list)
— Pennsylvania:
— Percent Positivity — 35.3% last 7 days (34.2% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 1,236.9 (1,114.6 previous 7 days)
— Adams County:
— Percent Positivity — 35.4% last 7 days (33.2% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 1,303.8 (1,029.0 previous 7 days)
— Cumberland County:
— Percent Positivity — 35.7% last 7 days (30.1% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 887.2 (670.6 previous 7 days)
— Dauphin County:
— Percent Positivity — 40.7% last 7 days (37.9% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 1,192.2 (954.7 previous 7 days)
— Franklin County:
— Percent Positivity — 37.8% last 7 days (33.1% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 1,468.8 (1,028.2 previous 7 days)
— Lebanon County:
— Percent Positivity — 40.7% last 7 days (36.8% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 1,571.3 (1,235.6 previous 7 days)
— Perry County:
— Percent Positivity — 36.6% last 7 days (33.4% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 650.5 (520.8 previous 7 days)
— York County:
— Percent Positivity — 39.5% last 7 days (38.1% previous 7 days)
— Incidence Rate per 100,000 people last 7 days — 1,536.1 (1,276.2 previous 7 days)
Email Jeff at jpratt@cumberlink.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelPratt.
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