College of Medicine pandemic response Friday round-up – week of Nov. 9-13

College of Medicine leaders updated faculty, staff and students on Nov. 13 about the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

NEW UPDATES THIS WEEK

• Pre-departure Testing for Students Nov. 17-18
• Voluntary Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing Available for Faculty and Staff
• Break and Lunchroom Caution
• Holiday Travel Guidelines
• Lab Capacity Update
• 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

Reminder: This week, we had a few instances of COVID spread happen in small gatherings among students without masks (both instances were asymptomatic and were caught during surveillance testing). It is important to remember you may not show any symptoms and can still spread the virus. This is why it is so important to wear a mask at all times when spending time with people who are not in your household and maintain social distancing.

Pre-departure Testing for Students Nov. 17-18: 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. Plans for mandatory COVID-19 testing prior to returning to campus after Thanksgiving and winter holiday breaks are being considered and will be announced once finalized. We recommend pre-registering here for testing so we can better accommodate a smooth flow of students.

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 up to two voluntary tests for themselves till 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.

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. A working group has been formed to identify additional space for lunch and breaks, with more information to follow.

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 no plans to implement a quarantine period for those faculty and staff who will travel domestically, but we urge extreme caution during all forms of travel to minimize COVID exposure. International travel is highly discouraged, and the College is not financially 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.

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, as many as four researchers have been seen 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.

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, through 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

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