COVID-19 death rates in the six local counties — the number of deaths in the last week per 100,000 residents — are comparable to the statewide rate of seven, with two exceptions, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department of Health.

Those are Blair and Clearfield, both of whose death rates greatly exceeded the state’s.

“There were a lot of deaths this week,” said Mark Taylor, the Blair County emergency management director. “That’s the saddest part.”

Among the local counties, new hospital admissions went up in all but Centre and Clearfield counties, with the highest percentage jump in Huntingdon County and the next highest in Cambria.

The rate of new hospitalizations per capita for the week were highest in Clearfield and next highest in Blair.

“The hospital numbers are the ones that are always the most concerning,” Taylor said.

All local counties remain in the high transmission category, based on CDC numbers.

The now-dominant omicron variant of COVID-19 is much more transmissible but milder than the previously dominant delta variant, so emphasis has shifted away from sheer case numbers to deaths and hospitalizations in most pandemic reporting.

There will be mass COVID-19 testing this week again, Tuesday through Friday, in Blair County, but this time at Peoples Natural Gas Field, after testing in recent weeks at the Blair County Convention Center, Taylor said.

Positive results are taking two or three days and negative results seven to 10 days, due to laboratory backups, Taylor said.

“It’s still here,” he said of the pandemic.

The numbers:

* Blair County: 1,043 new cases, up 51 percent; 856 incidence rate per 100,000 residence; 23 deaths (19 deaths per 100,000 residents); 21 percent positivity, up 3 percent; 53 percent of residents 5 and over fully vaccinated; 49 hospital admissions, up 32 percent; 40 admissions per 100,000 residents; 18 percent of hospital beds used; 58 percent of ICU beds used.

* Bedford County: 367 new cases, up 30 percent; 766 incidence rate; three deaths (six per 100,000 residents); 27 percent positivity, up 2 percent; 39 percent of residents 5 and over fully vaccinated; 17 hospital admissions; up 21 percent; 35 admissions per 100,000 residents; 42 percent of hospital beds used.

* Cambria County: 1,839 new cases, up 56 percent; 1,412 incidence rate; nine deaths (seven per 100,000 residents); 23 percent positivity, up 5 percent; 56 percent of residents fully vaccinated; 45 hospital admissions, up 60 percent; 34 admissions per 100,000 residents; 21 percent of hospital beds used; 24 percent of ICU beds used.

* Centre County: 2,137 new cases, up 38 percent; 1,316 incidence rate; nine deaths (five per 100,000 residents); 27 percent positivity, no change; 59 percent of residents 5 and over fully vaccinated; 46 hospital admissions, down 13 percent; 28 admissions per 100,000 residents; 28 percent of hospital beds used; 52 percent of ICU beds uses.

* Clearfield County: 805 new cases, up 68 percent; 1,015 incidence rate; 19 deaths (24 per 100,000 residents); 21 percent positivity, up 4 percent; 50 percent of residents 5 and over fully vaccinated; 34 hospital admissions, down 10 percent; 42 admissions per 100,000 residents; 24 percent of hospital beds used; 21 percent of ICU beds used.

* Huntingdon County: 493 total cases, up 61 percent; 1,092 incidence rate; four deaths (eight per 100,000 residents); 22 percent positivity, up 9 percent; 51 percent of residents 5 and over fully vaccinated; 15 hospital admissions, up 87 percent; 33 admissions per 100,000 residents; 17 percent of hospital beds used; 8 percent of ICU beds used.

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