COVID-19 Update

Dear students,

As we enter the last week of April, I want to commend everyone for your energy and commitment to making the on-campus semester possible. Yes, we continue to see a number of COVID-19 cases, but overall we see many students, faculty, and staff doing all the things that help keep themselves and each other safe. The total number of tests was significantly lower this week compared to prior weeks, causing our positivity rate to jump a bit even though we had slightly fewer positive cases. 

• Forty-four student positives and three employee cases were found in testing over the past seven days for a positivity rate of 2.5% for students and 0.5% for faculty and staff. We will remain at Level 2 for another week. With extra attention on keeping social contacts down, we’ll hope to return to Level 1 soon.
• Vaccinations are available for everyone over the age of 16 in Pennsylvania. If you have not been vaccinated, appointments are available at both local health networks and several pharmacies. The Pennsylvania Department of Health offers helpful information on the vaccination of college students. Getting vaccinated before returning home for the summer will protect you, your family, and your home community.
• Complete the vaccine survey and tell us when you will be fully vaccinated, and follow the link to upload your complete vaccine card to your student health portal. Anyone who has already completed the survey and those who do so before Wednesday will be entered in a drawing to win one of two $100 gift cards to the College Store. Opting out of testing is one advantage of being fully vaccinated, traveling without required testing is another, and free stuff from the College Store is just icing on the cake. Gift card winners will be announced next Friday in the update.
• Any student two weeks past their second dose of vaccine or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine is eligible to opt out of testing beginning Monday. Students who do not show up for their test without having completed the survey in the paragraph above will be considered as missing a testing appointment. 
• As the semester closes out we will layer the numbers of students fully/partially vaccinated, those with natural immunity, and our weekly positivity rates in making decisions about activity levels. The more students we have vaccination records for, the more open the social landscape becomes. Tell your friends to fill out the survey and upload the card.

If you have questions, please contact me.

Annette Diorio
Vice President for Campus Life