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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- Blair County may be on the verge of some relief after weeks of watching its COVID-19 cases climb.
Blair County Director of Public Safety Mark Taylor told commissioners Tuesday that the county remains in the high transmission rate of the ongoing pandemic.
But the number of new cases, he said, is "trending down a little bit," along with the number of hospitalized patients and those on ventilators.
Blair County's hospitalizations due to COVID-19, which recently climbed as high as 70, is down slightly, he said. The number of hospitalized patients on ventilators, he added, is also down slightly from 22.
"Maybe we're starting to see a little reprieve," he told the commissioners.
The number of COVID-19 cases in Blair County began climbing in mid-August, when it moved from the moderate to the substantial transmission level, then into the high level of transmission, where it has remained based on the number of new cases per 100,000 residents.
Commissioners Chairman Bruce Erb, in response to Taylor's report presented Tuesday, said he hopes Taylor has additional improvements to offer when he returns with his next report in two weeks.
"I pray that's the case," Taylor said.
Since the pandemic began, 18,337 county residents have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and 401 have died, including three in the past week, according to the state Department of Health.
Taylor, who encourages people to get vaccinated, said he noticed an increase in county residents who got vaccinations last week. The number of vaccinated residents getting booster shots was up too, he said.
"Vaccination is the way to help us get out of this," he said.
He said that the state is in the process of distributing the now-approved Pfizer vaccine to pediatricians who can vaccinate children between 5 and 11 years old.
Between Oct. 27 and Nov. 2, Taylor said state reports show Blair County had 86 children between the ages of 5 and 18 who tested positive for COVID-19.
Since mid-August, Taylor added, nearly 800 children between the ages of 5 and 18 have tested positive.
The state is working through its intermediate units to identify schools interested in holding vaccination clinics.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.