All six local counties remain in the high transmission category for COVID-19 this week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the six counties, Blair had the highest number of new cases in the past week, the highest number of new cases per 100,000 residents and the second highest test positivity rate.

“The numbers took another big jump,” said Blair County Emergency Management Director Mark Taylor. “We haven’t seen any improvement.”

There were 10 deaths this week in Blair County, according to the CDC, bringing the total for the pandemic to 387.

“I thought we might be coming out of this now,” Taylor said of the COVID-19 crisis. “I’m not sure what it’s going to take.”

Medical experts have pleaded since the spring for everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, but the full-vaccination rates for eligible residents among local counties significantly trails the nearly 70 percent for the state as a whole.

Blair County is in the middle range locally, with Centre County highest and Bedford County lowest, according to the state Department of Health website.

Statewide, Bedford is third from lowest among all 67 counties, two places up from Philadelphia, where the vaccination rate is just 16 percent.

Counting from the top, Centre County is 25th in the state in percentage of eligible people vaccinated, followed by Cambria in 35th place, Blair in 42nd, Clearfield in 46th and Huntingdon in 48th place.

Montour is in first place, with 80 percent of eligible residents vaccinated.

Fortunately, most of the older, more vulnerable residents in Blair have gotten shots, Taylor said.

Whether to get vaccinated is “a personal decision,” he said.

But most of the people in Blair who’ve been hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, he said.

Blair County qualifies for high COVID-19 transmission both because its incidence rate isn’t below 100 and its positivity isn’t below 10 percent.

Among local counties, Cambria had the second highest number of new cases in the past week and the second highest incidence rate — new cases per 100,000 residents.

Centre County had the highest percentage increase of new cases, but the lowest incidence rate.

Bedford County had the highest positivity rate, while Huntingdon County had the lowest.

The CDC numbers:

* Blair County: 515 new cases, up 9 percent; 422 incidence rate; 10.26 percent positivity; 41 new hospital admissions; 15 percent of hospital beds used; 52 percent of ICU beds used; 53 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

* Bedford County: 136 new cases, down 26 percent; 284 incidence rate; 15.45 percent positivity; 8 new hospital admissions; 38 percent of hospital beds used; 39 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

* Cambria County: 513 new cases, up 3 percent; 394 incidence rate; 8.21 percent positivity; 28 new hospital admissions; 17 percent of hospital beds used; 45 percent of ICU beds used; 58 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

* Centre County: 276 new cases, up 21 percent; 169 incidence rate; 6.52 percent positivity; 23 new hospital admissions; 23 percent of hospital beds used; 15 percent of ICU beds used; 60 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

* Clearfield County: 246 new cases, down 11 percent; 310 incidence rate; 7.91 percent positivity; 32 new hospital admissions; 27 percent of hospital beds used; 32 percent of ICU beds used; 52 percent of eligible residents fully vaccinated.

* Huntingdon County: 127 new cases, down 9 percent; 281 incidence rate; 6.27 percent positivity; 10 new hospital admissions; 21 percent of hospital beds used; 53 percent of ICU beds used; 52 percent of eligible residents vaccinated.

Transmission levels in counties are based on “incidence” rate — the number of new cases in the past seven days per 100,000 residents — and on the test positivity rate over the past seven days.

County transmission levels are high if the incidence rate is at least 100 or if the positivity rate is at least 10 percent.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.