College of Medicine Pandemic Response Friday Round-Up – Week of Aug. 2-6
College of Medicine leaders updated faculty, staff and students on Aug. 6 about the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
This Week’s Updates:
New public health recommendation for vaccinated individuals
The Pennsylvania Department of Health (PA DOH) has issued a new public health recommendation for individuals in Dauphin, Lebanon and Lancaster counties who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, due to substantial or high transmission rates in those areas.
Employees should continue to wear a mask while on the Penn State Health/Penn State College of Medicine campus. The information below provides recommended guidance for when employees are off campus.
Summary of PA DOH guidance:
- In counties with substantial or high transmission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the PA DOH recommend all persons, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask in public indoor settings.
- Fully vaccinated people who have had a known exposure to someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should be tested two to five days after exposure and should wear a mask in public indoor settings for 14 days or until they receive a negative test.
- Regardless of vaccination status, any person with new or unexplained symptoms of COVID-19 still needs to isolate and be evaluated for SARS-CoV-2 testing.
- If you have questions about this guidance, please call your local health department or 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258).
Employees should continue to contact Penn State Occupational Health at 814-863-8492 to report exposure or symptoms or to seek guidance.
In case you missed it: Revised standards for in-person, human subjects research
Effective Monday, Aug. 2, revised standards were implemented for in-person, human subjects research. Some highlights of the revised standards include:
- If the in-person, human subjects research meets the listed criteria, it may resume without additional COVID-safety reviews and approval via InfoReady. Note: IRB review and approval is separate from COVID-safety reviews in InfoReady.
- If the in-person, human subjects research does not meet the listed criteria, it requires review and approval of COVID-safety measures via InfoReady before resuming.
Read more about the revised standards.
Physical distancing in laboratories
As a reminder, as of Aug. 2, physical distancing requirements for research laboratories were reduced to 100 square feet per person. This represents a reduction from 6 feet between individuals in the lab to approximately 4 feet. Hence, a 600-square-foot laboratory can have a maximum of six people in the lab at the same time. This reduction in physical distancing in the lab should allow a large number of labs to regain more normal operations with a few caveats – masking (type 1 procedure masks) is still required, and no eating or drinking is permitted in the lab environment.
Principal investigators (PIs) have the discretion to adopt these new guidelines in their individual labs depending on the circumstances and their personnel in their labs. PIs who are still experiencing lab space limitations should contact Dr. Chuck Lang (chl1@psu.edu) to discuss the matter.
Room capacity in instructional space to increase
As of Aug. 2, the maximum room capacity for instructional space was increased to 50%. New room capacity limits have been posted in BookIt and on the doors for College of Medicine instructional and departmental meeting space. We ask your cooperation in not exceeding the posted capacity limits, continuing to mask appropriately, and adhering to our guidelines of no eating and drinking in instruction/meeting space.
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