Penn State reported on Friday that 174 students at University Park have tested positive for COVID-19 out of 3,624 tests completed since last Friday.
The university’s COVID-19 dashboard shows 115 positives and 837 negatives from ‘on-demand testing,’ with another 140 tests still awaiting results. On-demand testing includes individuals with symptoms as those who sought testing because they were concerned about possible exposure.
Formerly labeled by the university as asymptomatic testing, random screening yielded 59 positive cases and 2,613 negative cases. Another 393 asymptomatic tests are awaiting results.
Random screening results including daily surveillance testing of approximately 1% of the campus population, as well as testing of student-athletes by Intercollegiate Athletics and targeted testing at ‘pop-up’ facilities of individuals who may have been at heightened risk.
Both the University Park Undergraduate Association and faculty group the Coalition for a Just University have urged the university to increase its daily testing from 1% to 10%.
Since Aug. 14, Penn State has had 211 COVID-19 cases at University Park, all students. By comparison, all of Centre County had 149 new cases for the month of July.
“We know the virus is here, and I am of course concerned by the numbers and trends we are seeing,” Penn State President Eric Barron said in a statement. “Our ability to manage transmission and rate of growth of positive cases is critically important. Next week, we will assess data following the holiday weekend, and determine whether we need to take mitigation steps at University Park including temporary or sustained remote learning.”
Over the past week, Centre County has recorded its three highest single-day increases of new cases and its positivity rate has jumped to 5%, up from 1.5% over the previous seven days. The spike in positives led State College Area School District — which has had no cases among students and employees — to pause classes on Friday and use the weekend to evaluate data to determine if a move to district-wide remote learning is necessary.
Penn State’s COVID-19 dashboard is now updated twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays. Tuesday’s reporting, which included available results from the weekend, showed 32 new cases. Those are included in Friday’s update.
It’s unclear how many of Penn State’s new cases this week have appeared so far in the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s daily reporting. Over the past week DOH reports showed 173 new cases in all of Centre County, the vast majority in the State College and University Park zip codes.
According to a news release that accompanied Friday’s update, all impacted students — those who tested positive or who have been identified through the contact-tracing process — are in isolation or quarantine at designated space in Eastview Terrace, at home, or in single-occupancy residences off-campus.
The university says it has ‘ample space remaining’ for isolation and quarantine, but concern remains about the climbing number of cases.
Barron and epidemiologist Matthew Ferrari urged students and employees to adhere to masking and social distancing and to avoid travel and social gatherings over the Labor Day weekend.
“This is a very critical moment,” Ferrari said. “It’s vital that students, especially, socialize closely only with roommates, if possible. This is not the time to have friends over, or visit other apartments. Don’t attend gatherings with folks outside your immediate household; wear a mask and maintain distance when you go out. Fortunately, it appears we can look forward to good weather and the prospect of outdoor activity. Go hiking, ride a bike – but keep your distance from others and wear masks. I know this is difficult. However, these steps can slow the spread and make a real difference.”
