College of Medicine pandemic response Friday round-up – week of Nov. 2-6
College of Medicine leaders updated faculty, staff and students on Nov. 6 about the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic:
New Updates
- Lab Capacity Update
- Break and Lunchroom Caution
- Holiday Travel Guidelines
- Pre-departure Testing for Students – Scheduling Starts Today
- Student Wellness Days
- Harrell Health Sciences Library Holiday Hours
- In Case You Missed It – link to last week’s email
- College of Medicine COVID-19 Dashboard
Lab Capacity: The College remains in phase 4 for research efforts. Although this means we are at 80% of maximal research capacity, the maximum occupancy in every lab at all times must still adhere to the 150 square feet per person. On occasion, we have witnessed as many as four researchers in some smaller laboratories (300 to 400 square feet), which exceeds the capacity for those labs. Faculty, staff and students are reminded to strictly adhere to this space policy for everyone’s safety.
Break and Lunchrooms: Please exercise increased caution when eating lunch in rooms with other employees, as everyone may be unmasked. When eating, people must maintain more than 6 feet of physical distancing and should not sit directly across from one another at a table. To free up space in break and lunchrooms, please stagger lunch/break times or leave the room immediately after you are finish eating. We are working on plans to expand break areas in the cafeteria, Cancer Institute and other areas, and once arrangements are finalized, more options will be announced.
Holiday Travel: As the Thanksgiving and winter breaks are fast approaching, we urge everyone to remain vigilant with mask-wearing and physical distancing while traveling and in family gatherings. At this time, discussions for testing and quarantine are ongoing. Currently, there are no plans to implement a quarantine period for those faculty and staff who will travel domestically, but we urge caution during all forms of travel to minimize COVID exposure. International travel is highly discouraged, and the College is not responsible if faculty, staff or students cannot regain entry to the U.S. If you elect to travel internationally, a nine-day quarantine period is required upon your return to your local residence. The travel and quarantine guidelines for Penn State Health and College of Medicine were recently updated.
Pre-departure Testing for Students – Scheduling Starts Today: On-site testing will be offered to any College of Medicine student who would like to be tested for COVID-19 before leaving for Thanksgiving break. On-site testing will be offered on Nov. 17-18 from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the University Fitness Center main gym. Registration is now open to schedule an appointment, but walk-ins are also available. Mandatory COVID-19 testing prior to returning to campus after Thanksgiving and winter holiday breaks are under consideration and will be announced once plans have been finalized.
Student Wellness Days: Graduate students at the College of Medicine will comply with University policy on Wellness Days for spring 2021. Wellness days have been identified as Feb. 9, March 11 and April 7. No course instruction is permitted on these days, and the expectation is that students will be excused from laboratory research unless there are extenuating circumstances. Those students wishing to continue their research are certainly welcome to do so. The MD and PA programs, too, are following the University policy to plan wellness days throughout the spring semester instead of a spring break week. The exact days are in the process of being set for each program and will be communicated as soon as they are decided.
Harrell Health Sciences Library Holiday Hours
The Harrell Health Sciences Library will be unstaffed on the following dates:
- Thursday, Nov. 26 – Sunday, Nov. 29
- Thursday, Dec. 24 – Sunday, Jan. 3
The library space will still be accessible by badge access 24/7 during these times. Online reference service will be available Tuesday, Dec. 29 – Thursday, Dec. 31 as normal (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) via herref@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.
In case you missed it
Click here to view last week’s Pandemic Response Email.
COVID-19 cases on campus
The table below summarizes the number of COVID-19 cases among our College of Medicine faculty, staff and students for this past week:
College of Medicine statistics
- Current employees/students represents the number who have shown symptoms this week.
- Total employees/students represents the number who have been quarantined or tested positive for COVID-19 since March 2020 (for employees) or July 2020 (for students)
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