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CENTRE HALL -- As cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in Centre County, there is some concern about two big events which will be taking place days apart.
Today, the Centre County Grange Fair officially gets underway. Campers have been moving in throughout the week. When all is said and done, there will be nearly 1,000 tents and more than 1,000 motor homes at the fairgrounds in Centre Hall. Daily, thousands of people will descend on Centre Hall to attend the week-long event.
Meanwhile, students have been moving into Penn State's University Park campus throughout the week and even more are expected this weekend before classes begin on Monday, Aug. 23.
Centre County commissioner Michael Pipe said that the county has been in contact with the Pennsylvania Department of Health as it keeps a watchful eye on the uptick in cases in the county.
"Yes, we are," Pipe said earlier this week. "As the public knows, hopefully by now, we have a great partnership with the Department of Health with a testing site. We're working closely with them (as to) what avenues may exist to continue that. Still more to come on that."
Pipe said that the county was in close contact with the DOH last fall when students came back to Penn State.
"We communicated with them very closely when students returned last August, a year ago," Pipe said. "So they're very much aware of it. We're having conversations with them."
The start of Penn State football is also around the corner. The first home game is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11 at Beaver Stadium.
Centre County added 22 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. It remains in the "substantial" level for community transmission of COVID-19 -- the second highest on the Centers for Disease Control scale -- as of the CDC's latest county-level data update on Wednesday.
With the Delta variant wreaking havoc on healthcare providers throughout the United States, the best way to prevent community spread is by getting vaccinated, if possible.
"(The Department of Health's) message and our message is, if you can get vaccinated, please do. There are many opportunities to do it, many local providers here. That's really the best thing we can do as a community. Just keep up with the vaccinations," Pipe said.
Vaccines are readily available through healthcare providers and pharmacies listed at vaccines.gov.