LYCOMING COUNTY, Pa. — COVID-19 cases are on the rise in Lycoming County. At the end of last week, the county crossed the "substantial" transmission threshold for the virus. Medical professionals at UPMC Williamsport say hospitalizations are up.
"What we saw happen was the peak, and it trended downward, and we had very few cases in our hospitals for a few weeks, and now we are seeing an uptick," said Susan Duchman of UPMC Williamsport.
The current transmission of the virus in our viewing area is still not as high as in southern states. However, medical professionals do believe the delta variant of the coronavirus is one reason why we are seeing an uptick in cases in central Pennsylvania.
"We do not do testing for the specific variant, but I can tell you, given the spread of the delta variant, our assumption is that what we are seeing right now is the delta variant," said Duchman.
The CDC recommends that people living in substantial transmission areas wear a face mask when indoors. That guidance goes for folks who are both unvaccinated and vaccinated.
"With this thing going on, one day you have to wear a mask, and one day you don't have to wear a mask. Just give everybody one thing, wear the mask or not," said Alexander Powell of Williamsport.
Newswatch 16 spoke with folks at Otto Bookstore in downtown Williamsport. The business is strongly urging folks to wear a mask because of the spread of the delta variant.
"We strongly urge that customers wear masks in the store because we have some staff members with family that haven't been able to get vaccinated, so we would prefer people be safer than not," said Andrew Brum, a manager at Otto Bookstore.
Alexander Powell of Williamsport told us he hopes people start taking the virus more seriously.
"I think personally everybody should sanitize, wash their hands, and do the protocol, and things will be OK," said Powell.
"Please remain socially distanced, wear your mask as directed, wash your hands, of course, and please consider getting the vaccine. Those things together are our best efforts to help control the spread of COVID-19," said Duchman.