Masks Now Recommended In These 17 PA Counties: CDC

PENNSYLVANIA — More than a dozen Pennsylvania counties have "high" community levels of COVID, according to the latest data from the CDC.

The CDC reports as of Thursday that 17 counties are classified as having "high" community levels of COVID.

This means masking is recommended in Erie, Crawford, Warren, Butler, Beaver Allegheny, Clinton, Lycoming, Sullivan, Wyoming, Luzerne, Sullivan, Clinton, Lycoming, Montour, Monroe, Carbon, Montgomery, Delaware, and Philadelphia counties.

The CDC advises people to mask indoors in counties with high COVID community levels — based on a framework that's largely based on hospitalizations with the virus, but also incorporates new infections.

Federal data shows a seven-day moving average of 194.57 new hospital admissions in Pennsylvania.

Data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health shows 1,329 people are hospitalized with coronavirus in the state. Of those patients, 151 are in intensive care units and 50 are on ventilators.

According to the CDC, the state's seven-day positive testing rate is between 15 and 19.9 percent.

Over those seven days, 24,862 new cases have been confirmed, and 101 coronavirus deaths have been recorded in Pennsylvania.

State data shows 2,424,337 confirmed cases of the virus to date, as well as 45,254 coronavirus-related deaths.

A handful of other counties are in the "medium" level, including Chester and Bucks counties, but the vast majority of the state is still in the "low" grouping.

See the CDC's full county level map for community levels of the virus here.

According to the state, 7,453,403 people are fully vaccinated in Pennsylvania. Of those 7.45 million, 3,458,152 have received a booster shot, and an additional 500,717 have gotten a second booster shot. Additionally, 1,497,309 people are partially vaccinated in Pennsylvania.