County adds 2 deaths but no COVID-19 cases for first time since October
Jefferson County saw the clearest evidence yet that COVID-19 is relaxing its grip on the area — and the rest of the world — on Thursday, with the Pennsylvania Department of Health reporting no new cases in the area.
The last time Jefferson County did not identify any new cases of the virus was Oct. 22, according to Spirit records.
The county’s cumulative total of cases stands at 2,774 since the beginning of the pandemic, 1,691 of them confirmed and 1,083 probable.
Unfortunately, the effects of the virus continued to be felt on Thursday, as two more Jefferson County residents were reported to have died, bringing the death toll to 89.
Like the world at large, Jefferson County has had a long road with COVID-19. It held out longer than most, confirming its first case of COVID-19 on April 1, tying with Elk County as the last in Pennsylvania to have a known case of the virus. The progress of the virus was slow after that; by summer, there were only nine known cases. It wasn’t until Sept. 7 that the county reported more than 100 cases.
As with much of the country, Jefferson County’s cases really began to spiral in the fall. There were over 200 cases on Oct. 30, the same day the first was identified in the Punxsutawney high school and only two before a similar report emerged from the
elementary school. On Nov. 2, The Spirit reported Tracy Zents, the county director of emergency services, as calling October’s increase in cases “concerning.”
And the virus was far from done. There were 300 cases by Nov. 9 and 400 by Nov. 16. Daily increases in reported cases started appearing in the 20s and 30s. A major spike occurred Dec. 1 when 58 new cases were identified — a record that was shattered again only a week later when 77 were added. That record stands to this day. The county cleared 1,000 cases Dec. 6.
Jefferson County saw its most tragic weekend when the Dec. 13 reports showed seven COVID-19 deaths. That accounted for nearly 40 percent of the total deaths at the time.
A light appeared at the end of the tunnel on Christmas Eve, when the Punxsutawney Area Hospital announced it had received the first doses of the vaccine and begun administering them to staff.
However, the fight was far from over, and the county cleared a pair of grim milestones on the same day, Jan. 6, when reports showed over 2,000 cases and 50 deaths. One day later, the Department of Health reported Pennsylvania’s first known case of a new, more contagious variant of the virus.
By Jan. 11, an estimated 1 in 20 Jefferson County residents had tested positive for the virus. In late January, the Punxsutawney Area School District narrowly remained below the threshold for potential closure after seven people (five students and two staff members) tested positive for the virus and approximately 90 of their close contacts had to go into quarantine.
But January also marked the beginning of a slowdown in the spread of the virus, as daily increases began slipping into the teens. By mid-February, increases of that size were normal, and single digits were no longer unheard of. The previous low was on Monday, when only two additional cases were reported.
Vaccinations continued apace in Jefferson County, with 258 more first doses and 17 more second doses reported Thursday.
Clearfield and Indiana counties shared in some of the good news on Thursday, as for the second consecutive day neither reported any additional deaths. Their totals are 114 and 158. Indiana County also kept its case increase low, adding only five for a total of 5,038. Clearfield County continues to see the most significant increases, adding 19 on Thursday for a total of 6,214.
Statewide, the Department of Health reported 2,356 new cases for a total of 922,990. There were 81 new deaths for a total of 23,868. Currently, 1,972 Pennsylvania residents are hospitalized with COVID19, 433 of them in intensive care units.