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University Park Reports 107 New Student Coronavirus Cases

Penn State reported 107 more University Park students have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to an update to the university’s COVID-19 Dashboard Friday.

Five employees have also tested positive.

The university administered 2,319 student random surveillance tests between November 6 and 12, resulting in eight positives, 2,081 negatives, and 238 pending tests. Meanwhile, Penn State performed 1,540 on-demand tests in that span, which yielded 163 positives, 1,207 negatives, and 170 pending tests.

This week’s administered student random surveillance tests are Penn State’s fewest since the week of August 14-20, far below the university’s average of around 3,000.

Coupled with Tuesday’s dashboard update, Penn State has reported 256 new student cases at University Park this week.

According to the dashboard’s update, 47 students are currently in on-campus quarantine, while 62 are in on-campus isolation.

Since testing began on August 7, Penn State has found 4,328 positive student coronavirus cases at University Park out of 65,092 administered tests. Additionally, 24 employees have tested positive so far.

According to the dashboard, 319 student cases remain active at University Park, while 4,009 are inactive. 10 employee cases are active, while 14 are not.

It’s worth noting Penn State defines “inactive” as any case that’s more than 10 days old. At this time, it’s unclear how many inactive cases, if any, have actually tested negative and are truly dormant.

Eleven patients aged between 30 and 83 years old are currently hospitalized at Mount Nittany Medical Center. Thirty-six have been admitted so far in November, following 58 admissions in October.

Penn State COVID-19 Operations Control Center (COCC) Director Kelly Wolgast implored students and faculty to remain vigilant as coronavirus cases rise statewide.

“As the numbers of COVID-19 cases continue to increase across the state and nation, we are seeing this same trend on many of our campuses,” Wolgast said. “With one week left of in-person classes, we must continue to be cautious and follow all public health guidelines for masking, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings. In particular, while students should continue with their normal class routines, we are advising that they self-quarantine as much as they can to reduce the risk of virus exposure before they return home next week.”

Penn State plans to update the dashboard with new testing statistics twice a week on Tuesdays and Fridays. The tool incorporates data random surveillance testing, symptomatic testing, and self-reported testing through University Health Services or Occupational Medicine.

Penn State’s data and Pennsylvania’s Department of Health data may vary due to lag between test collection and test results from various labs.

Throughout the semester, the university plans to randomly test at least 1% of its population each day at designated locations around campus, including the Bryce Jordan Center and Eisenhower Auditorium. Students can also receive free walk-up testing at Pegula Ice Arena from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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About the Author

Matt DiSanto

Matt proudly served as Onward State’s managing editor for two years until graduating from Penn State in May 2022. Now, he’s off in the real world doing real things. Send him an email ([email protected]) or follow him on Twitter (@mattdisanto_) to stay in touch.

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