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COVID-19

Centre County COVID-19 testing site changes location

STATE COLLEGE — Centre County’s COVID-19 testing site has a new location. The free indoor walk-in site is now located at the former Sears Auto Center at the Nittany Mall, 183 Shiloh Road in State College. The site is open to the general public. The site is available through a partnership with AMI Expeditionary Healthcare (AMI) and Centre County officials, according to a news release. Testing is available from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. The current site will operate through Saturday, Oct. 31, 2021. “The fight against COVID-19 is not over and testing is the ...

Centre, Lycoming see dramatic jump in cases

The uptick in cases of COVID-19 continues in the tri-county area. On Thursday, Clinton County added 10 cases of COVID-19, but it was Centre and Lycoming counties that reported alarming jumps. Centre County added 57 new cases of the deadly virus, while Lycoming County added a whopping 61. According to Pennsylvania Department of Health data, Centre County’s 57 cases are its most since April 25. Centre County now has 17,766 cases of the virus. Clinton County now has 3,927 cases and Lycoming County has 12,745 cases. Across the Commonwealth, Pennsylvania added 4,816 new positives. ...

Centre Care requiring all staff to be vaccinated for COVID-19

BELLEFONTE — A local senior living facility is doing its part to protect its residents, staff and visitors from COVID-19. Centre Care, located along the Benner Pike in Bellefonte, released a statement on Thursday announcing that it would require all employees and staff to be vaccinated. The release said: “Centre Care is committed to keeping COVID-19 out of our facility and keeping our residents healthy during these extraordinary times. We are encouraged that more than 85 percent of staff are already vaccinated; well above the current national staff vaccination rate in nursing ...

US hospitals hit with nurse staffing crisis amid COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a nurse staffing crisis that is forcing many U.S. hospitals to pay top dollar to get the help they need to handle the crush of patients this summer. The problem, health leaders say, is twofold: Nurses are quitting or retiring, exhausted or demoralized by the crisis. And many are leaving for lucrative temporary jobs with traveling-nurse agencies that can pay $5,000 or more a week. It's gotten to the point where doctors are saying, “Maybe I should quit being a doctor and go be a nurse,” said Dr. Phillip Coule, chief medical officer at Georgia's ...

GOP leaders criticize latest mask mandate

BELLEFONTE — Mandatory masks will return to Pennsylvania schools on Tuesday, Sept. 7. Earlier this week, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced that masking will be required in all state public and private schools, as well as childcare facilities. The announcement was widely criticized by Republicans in the General Assembly, including two high-ranking legislators from Centre County. “Protecting the health and safety of our children is always a top consideration for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle,” Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R-Benner Township), said in a ...

Mask mandate: Good governance or unconstitutional?

The mandate issued by the Department of Health Tuesday on masks in schools has one member of the state legislature claiming it’s unconstitutional and a member of Williamsport’s “Let’s End COVID” group praising the Wolf administration’s for its leadership. “I would argue that the way they’re rolling it out is actually unconstitutional because they are taking a class of people and claiming they have to do this, but the rest of Pennsylvania doesn’t,” said Rep. Joe Hamm, R-Hepburn Township. “They’re saying students K-12 and in daycare have to wear masks. So do ...