The number of new COVID-19 cases in the county has remained low while new cases in the state have been increasing.

New cases in the county have counted mostly in the single digits for the past few weeks, but state numbers have risen from approximately 200 or less in mid-June until recently when 400 or more cases have been reported daily.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health reported 561 cases Thursday and 525 cases Wednesday.

The Butler Health System reported three coronavirus patients, including one in intensive care at Butler Memorial Hospital, plus one in intensive care at Clarion Hospital.

BMH continues to implement measures to control the spread of the virus.

On Tuesday, the hospital began requiring all visitors to enter the building through the tower entrance to track the number of visitors.

Each patient can have only one visitor at a time and the visitor can stay for up to two hours. Having all visitors enter through one entrance allows the hospital to have a check point to prevent multiple visitors showing up to see one patient at the same time, said Karen Allen, chief nursing officer. Visiting hours remain 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m.

The Brady Street entrance is for staff and patients.

The COVID-19 vaccine clinic at the hospital's crossroads Campus on Oneida Valley Road is open from 8 a.m. to noon Mondays, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to noon Fridays. About 15 first doses and 30 second doses are administered per day.Beginning the week of Aug. 9, the clinic will be closed Mondays.In the 66 counties, including Butler, where the Department of Health has vaccine jurisdiction, a total of 11,477,668 doses have been administered as of Thursday. The department said 5,639,196 full vaccinations have been administered and 583,8472 partial vaccinations have been administered.In the county, 93,024 people are fully vaccinated and 6,001 people are partially vaccinated among the population of 187,853.

There are 319 people hospitalized across the state, including 69 patients in intensive care.In licensed nursing and personal care homes, there have been a total of 72,145 cases among residents and 15,607 cases among employees.About 29,215 of the total cases in the state have been among health care workers.Of the total deaths reported in the state, 13,375 have occurred in nursing or personal care home residents.