Covid case spread drops in North Huntingdon-Irwin-North Irwin area
The spread of covid cases in the four ZIP codes covering most of the North Huntingdon-Irwin-North Irwin areas continued to drop for the fourth consecutive week, falling to just 4.1% for the seven-day period ending Jan. 18, according to state Health Department data.
The number of confirmed covid cases in the North Huntingdon-Irwin, Larimer, Ardara and Westmoreland City ZIP codes increased to 2,383 as of Jan. 18, an increase of 96 from Jan. 11, based on health department data. It was the first time this year that the week-over-week increase of covid cases fell below 100 in that area. The total count is based on the number of cases since the pandemic hit the region in March.
The anticipated post-holiday spike of cases has yet to materialize in the North Huntingdon-Irwin area, based on the recent count of confirmed coronavirus cases. The communities have a population of about 35,000.
The number of probable, but not confirmed, cases in those communities, reached 1,000 on Jan. 18, an 8.3% increase of 77 cases since Jan. 11. The total number of negative cases was 10,349, up from 10,090 as of Jan. 11.
In the North Huntingdon-Irwin 15642 ZIP codes, there were 2,297 confirmed covid cases, 977 probable cases and 10,059 cases with negative test results since March. The ZIP covers West Hempfield and parts of Penn Township.
There were 57 confirmed covid cases in the Westmoreland City 15692 ZIP code, 17 probable cases and 195 negative test results.
In the Ardara 15615 ZIP code, there were 16 confirmed cases, 1 probable and 60 negative test results.
There were 13 confirmed cases in the Larimer 15647 ZIP code, five probable cases and 65 negative test results.
In the Norwin School District, there were two high school students, one middle school student and one Sheridan Terrace staff member who tested positive for coronavirus over the past week.
Anyone who needs to be quarantined will be contacted by the health department, the school nurse, or a school administrator.
The school district said Monday it has 13 active covid cases and 247 resolved cases since school began in August. There are 54 students and 17 staff members who are quarantined.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.