College of Medicine pandemic response Friday round-up – week of Nov. 30 – Dec. 4

From left, Dr. Leslie Parent, vice dean for research and graduate studies; Dr. Terry Wolpaw, vice dean of educational affairs; and Dr. Charles Lang, associate dean for graduate studies and Dr. Neal Thomas, associate dean for clinical research.

College of Medicine leaders updated faculty, staff and students on Dec. 4 about the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

Updates this week

• Administrative Staff:
  • Increase in the number of non-research staff reporting COVID symptoms
• Research Updates:
  • Pause in human subjects research studies involving in-person interaction with participants with no direct drug or device therapeutic benefit
  • Ramping down research to phase 3
  • Safety rounds from leadership to begin
• College of Medicine Overall Updates:
  • Break and lunchroom caution
  • Travel policy updated: Penn State issues travel suspension, Pennsylvania travel and masking requirements detailed
  • voluntary asymptomatic covid-19 testing Available for Faculty and Staff
• Student Updates:
  • Student Wellness Days
• Harrell Health Sciences Library Holiday Hours
• In Case You Missed It – Link to Last Week’s Email
• COVID-19 Dashboard – Cases on Campus

Administrative Staff

This week we have noticed an increase in the number of non-research staff reporting COVID symptoms to Occupational Medicine which has required, on occasion, the disinfecting and quarantining of office space. Phase 3 of research requires that faculty and staff who can work remotely continue to do so. Leadership reiterates this requirement for remote working, where possible.

Research Updates

Observational Clinical Research: Effective Nov. 23, a pause was instituted at the College of Medicine and all Penn State Health sites for studies involving in-person interaction with participants with no direct drug or device therapeutic benefit. This pause remains in effect until further notice. Research interactions with participants such as telephone contact, remote monitoring or remote data collection may continue. Any observational study (whether inpatient or outpatient) that requires any additional in-person contact with subjects must be postponed until further notice.

Research Remains at Phase 3: Because of the rapidly escalating number of COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations in Pennsylvania and nationally, the College of Medicine ramped down research on Nov. 23. Out of an abundance of caution, research activities will remain scaled back only to those permissible in phase 3 of our research plan (refer to the coronavirus section of website). Phase 3 permits a maximum research occupancy of 50% at any given time.

Please plan your research activities to account for this reduced level of occupancy, and continue to post lab schedules adjacent to the laboratory. Decreasing the amount of time each person is in lab and reinstituting split work shifts is suggested. Allow for appropriate physical distancing and mask-wearing is imperative during the coming months. In-person lab meetings and other types of group meetings are also suspended while in phase 3 and should be continued remotely. Thank you for your cooperation.

Safety Rounds: In response to the increasing number of COVID-19 exposures among faculty, staff and students at the College of Medicine, administrative leaders will begin making daily safety rounding to proactively enforce safety protocols.

College of Medicine Overall Updates

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. The small dining rooms in the cafeteria are now available for lunch. To free up space in break and lunchrooms, please stagger lunch/break times or leave the room immediately after you are finished eating.

New break spaces that can be used for lunch include: Junker Auditorium, Lecture Halls A, B, C and D and small dining rooms off of the main cafeteria. The new break rooms are the third installment of a plan to make additional safe space available for employees to take breaks. Click here for a listing of other safe break rooms that have been made available.

Travel Suspension: Penn State announced it is suspending University-affiliated international travel and discouraging personal travel abroad by Penn State students, faculty and staff. Anyone wishing to travel abroad should consider the risks associated with doing so and consider postponing travel if at all possible.

Postdoctoral scholars and fellows who leave the country during the current remote period or during the holiday break must ensure that they can return by the beginning of the spring semester, Jan. 18, 2021. Those who travel abroad during this period may encounter delays in returning either due to immigration issues or pandemic-related lockdowns/border restrictions. Those who are unable to return will be placed on unpaid leave, which may jeopardize an international scholar’s visa/immigration status and result in the appointment being terminated.

Postdoctoral or J-1 scholars who have already traveled outside of the U.S. and are working from another country are being asked to contact their human resources strategic partner (for those who are domestic/non-visa holders) and Global Programs staff (for those who are on a visa) to discuss their situation.

Travel Policy Updated, Pennsylvania Travel and Masking Requirements Detailed: Penn State Health and the College of Medicine have updated the Travel and Quarantine policy to clarify that all travel — both domestic and international — is strongly discouraged at this time. Additionally, employees must disclose international travel plans, whether business or personal, with their manager/supervisor before departure, and again after return, before returning to the workplace.

College of Medicine employees must follow the Travel and Quarantine policy and are further encouraged to follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Travel Guidelines as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s new mitigation strategies, to slow the spread of COVID-19, including heightened masking and travel requirements. In addition, please see the guidelines highlighted in Penn State Today this week to help guide you. If you have quarantine-related questions, please contact Penn State Occupational Medicine at 814-863-8492.

Voluntary Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing Available for Faculty and Staff: The University has extended asymptomatic testing to College of Medicine faculty and staff who are working on campus and wish to be tested. Testing will only be available to employees who are listed in the University’s Return-to-Work database, which can be done by filling out the Return-to-Work Authorization form. Eligible employees can request voluntary tests for themselves until mid-January. Employees who wish to participate in the voluntary testing program may do so by using the following link. Hershey Medical Center faculty and staff should refer to the following link for guidance.

Student Updates

COVID Testing for Return from Thanksgiving: We thank all of the students who participated in the mandatory COVID testing for those returning to campus following the Thanksgiving holiday. Various plans for testing upon return to campus following the winter break are under consideration, and details will be announced in the coming weeks.

University Fitness Center (UFC): We have had several reports this week that students who are supposed to be in quarantine have been seen in the fitness center. Although these reports are unconfirmed, it would be a serious breach of the student code of conduct to break quarantine to enter the UFC. Students, staff and faculty who are under quarantine are not permitted in the UFC during the quarantine period.

Wellness Days: Students at the College of Medicine will comply with University policy on Wellness Days for spring 2021. Wellness days for graduate students are Feb. 9, March 11 and April 7. For physician assistant students, the dates are Feb. 15, March 11, March 24, April 6 and April 16. For MD program students, the dates are March 29, April 16 and May 7.

No course instruction is permitted on these days, and instructors may not move this missed instruction time to later in the semester. The expectation is that students will also be excused from laboratory research unless there are extenuating circumstances. Those students wishing to continue their research are certainly welcome to do so.

Harrell Health Sciences Library Holiday Hours

The Harrell Health Sciences Library will be unstaffed on the following dates:

• Thursday, Dec. 24 – Sunday, Jan. 3

The library space will still be accessible by badge access 24/7 during these days.

Online reference service will be available Tuesday, Dec. 29, through Thursday, Dec. 31, as normal (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) via herref@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.

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

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