Nittany Mall COVID testing site extends schedule as cases surge

CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WJAC) — In Centre County, not only are the number of COVID-19 cases increasing, but there's also been a sizeable jump recently in the death toll.

County and health care administrators continue to call for more coronavirus testing.

According to Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers, five county residents have died from COVID-19 since Thursday.

It’s one of the reasons to extend the hours for a free testing center at the Nittany Mall into next month.

By late Tuesday, the coroner's numbers on the COVID-19 death toll in Centre County changed again with four more deaths to report.

According to the coroner, the county now has 31 COVID-related deaths.

Until recently, the free testing center at the Nittany Mall wasn’t that busy.

Now it’s reflecting the coronavirus increase nationwide

Officials say they were testing about 145 to 150 people per day, but then in the last week, the number nearly doubled to as many as 250 per day.

Tuesday it was decided to allow for more daily tests, and to keep the center open, at least through the first or second week of Dec.

Officials say by that time, students will have left town, and they hope things will get back to some type of normal.

Penn State Tuesday announced another 145 positive COVID-19 tests among students at University Park, along with 5 employees.

Since August, just under 4,500 students, along with 29 employees, have tested positive.

A reminder: You don’t need to pre-register or get doctors approval to use the Nittany Mall test site, but they will ask for some form of identification or a health care id card.

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