Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Joe Kingsley of Warren leaves the Warren County Courthouse after a mask-free visit. The courthouse is following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations that people who are fully vaccinated no longer need to wear masks under most circumstances.

The number of COVID-19 cases is down, and so is the number of vaccinations.

According to Thursday data from the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there have been 2,600 total cases of COVID-19 in Warren County. After five new cases were reported on Sunday, there were two Monday, one Tuesday, and two new cases on Wednesday.

There were more than seven new cases per day in April — 223 cases over 30 days. There have been 98 new cases so far in May, with the majority of those reported in the first 12 days of the month. In the last seven days, the department has reported 12 new cases.

Statewide, there have been a total of 999,997 confirmed cases and 191,535 probables.

“In the last week, we’ve seen a decline in cases both at the hospital and individually in people’s homes,” Warren County Infectious Disease Consultant Jonie Smitley said during Thursday’s meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee. “It’s definitely on a decline.”

For most of the month, there had been five or six COVID-positive patients at Warren General Hospital according to the department. That number has dipped to two.

There have been 102 COVID-related deaths in the county. That number has changed little in the past three months. There were 26 deaths reported in 2020, then another 65 in January. There have been four COVID deaths in the county since the end of February.

The number of people seeking and receiving vaccines is also dropping.

“As far as vaccinations, also a decline,” Smitley said.

Most of the doses being administered in May have been second doses.

The number of partially vaccinated residents has been steadily dropping as the number of fully vaccinated patients has risen. Data for Wednesday shows 201 full vaccines administered and 35 partials.

As of Thursday, there had been 10,493 full vaccinations and 4,757 partial vaccinations in the county.

According to the department, about 40 percent of the county population is at least partially vaccinated. Forest and Montour counties are the only ones in the state with more than 50 percent of the population having received full vaccinations.

Warren County is short of 27 percent fully vaccinated.

Smitley said the hospital was hosting a clinic of about 100 second doses, but other clinics were down to “from 20 to 50.”