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The trend of improvement for the region seen in Friday updates of the state's early-warning COVID-19 dashboard in recent months seems to have halted, at least temporarily and in some respects.
Last Friday, all 12 key metrics for the six local counties showed improvement, while this week, four of those metrics went back in the other direction.
Last week, there were fewer new cases in all the counties than in the previous week, but this week, there were more new cases in Cambria than the week before.
Conversely, the news was a bit better regarding the thresholds of concern for the key metrics, which are incidence rate and test positivity.
The threshold for incidence rates -- the number of new cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days -- is 50.
The threshold for test positivity is 5%.
Last week, only five key metrics for all the local counties were in safe territory, below the thresholds of concern -- Bedford's incidence rate and the positivity rates for Blair, Cambria, Centre and Clearfield counties.
This week, six key metrics were in safe territory -- one more.
Among incidence rates, Blair's went from 72 to 48, into safe territory, joining Bedford, whose incidence rate moved from a safe 43 to a safer 33.
It was more complicated with positivity, as two counties that had been in safe territory left that safety and two that had been in problematic territory moved into the safe zone:
Thus, Bedford's positivity went from 6.4% to 3.7%, which is on the good side, while Huntingdon's went from 5.3% to 3.9%, which is also on the good side.
But Cambria County's positivity went from 4% to 5.2%, back into problem territory, while Centre's went from 4.5% to 7.6%, also back into problem territory.
The worst key metrics in an absolute sense are for Centre, which has the highest local incidence rate, 127, and the highest local positivity rate, at 7.6%.
Centre's numbers are also the worst in a relative sense, compared to last week: Its incidence rate is up 38%, while its positivity rate is up 3.1 points.
Despite those unfavorable numbers, Centre improved the most in its new-case differential, with 138 fewer cases this week than last.
The numbers:
— Blair, down 33 cases; incidence rate, 48; positivity, 4.2%.
— Bedford, down 5 cases; incidence rate, 33; positivity, 3.7%.
— Cambria, down 2 cases; incidence rate, 68; positivity, 5.2%.
— Centre, down 138 cases; incidence rate, 127; positivity, 7.6%.
— Clearfield, down 8 cases; incidence rate, 66; positivity, 4.4%.
— Huntingdon, down 14 cases; incidence rate, 108; positivity, 3.9%.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.