What comes next? How State College is aiming to fight COVID-19 with Penn State students returning
Hundreds of college students stood shoulder-to-shoulder outside of bars and businesses in downtown State College last weekend, often without masks, prompting fear and COVID-19 concern to permeate throughout the borough.
Councilwoman Theresa Lafer said she no longer felt safe walking downtown. Family members of council president and Penn State professor Jesse Barlow urged him to stay away from the area. And council member after council member shared Monday how they received more phone calls and emails from last weekend’s social gatherings — on the scheduled weekend of Arts Fest, which was canceled but didn’t prevent crowds — than they have in recent memory.
Residents’ questions were persistent but often returned to the same theme: So what are you going to do about it?
With a sharp rise in the coronavirus among the 19-24 age group, and with White House coronavirus advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci revealing the average age of COVID-19 patients has dropped 15 years since the pandemic’s start, there is legitimate concern that the influx of more than 40,000 Penn State students could turn State College — and, by extension, Centre County — into a hot spot.
The prevention of such a devastating result won’t be solved by just the borough council, however. Penn State, business groups, the state Department of Health and potentially even police will be part of the solution — based on the Centre Daily Times’ discussions with various local and state entities.
Questions remain and answers are ever-shifting, but one thing remains certain: Last weekend can’t happen again if the county hopes to weather the pandemic.
“The fact is that I think this past weekend was a dress rehearsal for the fall — and it went poorly,” Councilman Evan Myers said during Monday’s meeting. “If it was a dress rehearsal, my question is, will the play be closed before the curtain even goes up? The fact is we could face a health disaster if this isn’t done correctly.
“And I haven’t heard what ‘correctly’ is yet.”
Wear a mask or get fined?
At least six of State College’s seven borough council members spoke in favor Monday of passing some kind of ordinance — a local law with real consequences — that would compel mask-wearing. Two council members told the CDT it was fair to characterize the discussion as it no longer being a matter of if an ordinance will be passed but what ordinance will be passed.
But it’s still not entirely clear what the ordinance, which should be put up for a vote during a special meeting Aug. 4, will be able to do.
At the very least, it’s been confirmed the council has the power — under the state’s Disease Control and Prevention Act of 1955 — to have local police issue citations between $25 and $300, plus costs, for those refusing to wear masks inside businesses. (Those who refuse to pay can be jailed for up to 30 days.)
Up for debate is whether the council can, or will, have police fine those who are not wearing masks outdoors, like on a crowded downtown sidewalk. The borough was originally advised by a state entity that it could not do that. But two state officials, one from the governor’s office and another from the state Department of Health, told the CDT that it could. The borough is now seeking further clarification.
“We want to make sure whatever we have in place is going to protect our residents,” borough spokesperson Douglas Shontz said. “It’s education, warnings and then the citation. We’re not going to have the police force rolling out; we’re not going to have tanks rolled out. It’s not going to be oppressive. We just want everyone to have a sense of social responsibility and community.”
Although an outspoken minority in the borough oppose mandatory masking, council members mostly dismissed that talk as the science has overwhelmingly reinforced masks’ importance. One enterprising individual aggregated 70 studies, 31 from this year alone, that show masks work. A new study from UC Davis revealed masks cut risk by 65%. And, citing similar academic papers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday called on Americans “to wear masks.”
“My general feeling is, yes, we need a strong ordinance,” Barlow said. “And we need to enforce it.”
Added Myers: “People need to wear a mask. It makes health sense, and it makes business sense. So anything we can do to enforce that, the better.”
The timeline for the ordinance is expected to be swift. After receiving clarity and guidance from groups around the state, the borough manager and solicitor will co-write an ordinance, present it to the local board of health, amend it — and then have something for council to vote on Aug. 4. Council could then choose to tweak the ordinance, vote it through, or trash it and start over completely.
Lines, capacity and precautions
Officials wanted to make it clear they weren’t necessarily blaming Penn State students or pointing the finger at young adults when it comes to COVID-19. A careless 40-something grocery shopper is no better than a thoughtless 20-something bar hopper, they said.
But population density is among the largest factors of community spread, and the borough’s population is set to more than double when students return in about a month. That presents risks and scenarios that State College hasn’t had to directly deal with yet. After all, in a prescient move by Penn State, the campus closed before the county’s first confirmed COVID-19 case.
And that’s also why solutions won’t just fall on the shoulders of the borough. The Downtown State College Improvement District, the state Department of Health and Gov. Tom Wolf have all independently worked on legislation or initiatives that would make the downtown safer in some ways.
Rob Schmidt, the executive director of the improvement district, acknowledged right after last weekend that there needs to be a better structure when it comes to long lines outside the bars. He said he’s already spoken with some bar owners about implementing better systems, like smartphone apps such as Waitlist and NextMe — apps that virtually hold customers’ places so they don’t have to physically stand in line.
“There are several apps out there, similar to what you find in dining establishments, that are easily adaptable to college bars,” Schmidt added.
Some Penn State officials have raised the prospect of asking the borough to put stickers on the sidewalk, 6 feet apart, to promote social distancing. And, in a move that’s drawn some opposition, Wolf has tried to limit the statewide virus spread at bars and restaurants by cutting their capacity earlier this week to 25% (from 50%) and allowing alcohol sales only while dining. (In other words, night clubs and bars that don’t serve food will have have to shut down.)
Even before Wolf’s announcement, however, State College’s largest nightclub — The Basement — was already shut down. And Bill Pickle’s Tap Room voluntarily chose to close early, at 10 p.m., to eliminate ignored social distancing.
That, combined with Wolf’s newest order, has irked some but offered peace of mind to others. Barlow, the council president, said he felt more optimistic about the borough’s future after Wolf’s announcement than he did during Monday’s council meeting.
“I do feel better,” he said, “and I think the governor’s order is entirely warranted. I don’t want to see businesses close. I really hate seeing businesses close in State College, but we’ve got to make it safe here. And the rates in Pennsylvania are starting to kick back up again, and that’s something we need to cut down on right away.
“I don’t see how we can have a decent economic future if we don’t get the infection rates way, way down.”
Raising awareness/advertising
Damon Sims, Penn State’s vice president for Student Affairs, didn’t mince words at Thursday morning’s board of trustees committee meeting. The university’s greatest challenge for limiting the student spread of COVID-19, he said, will be found outside the classroom — off-campus and in students’ private lives.
“We know we have our hands full,” Sims said. “We must rely on our students to do the right thing, even if some of what we ask them will go against their tendency.”
According to a university survey, more than 80% of students plan to closely follow Penn State guidelines. So it’s believed that raising awareness about wearing masks downtown will be a key part of the borough’s masking strategy, and Penn State has already hired an award-winning public-relations agency in M Booth to help.
An advertising campaign will be rolled out the week of Aug. 3. Although specifics are not yet fully known, more than a dozen focus groups have already been held and some details were released Thursday during the public meeting of the BOT Committee on Outreach, Development and Community Relations.
The campaign will include streetlight banners, digital ads, video-based messages, social media, posters in business windows, etc. Some of the tested concepts included the slogan, “Do it for the ‘We,’” which officials believed appealed to the community values of Penn State.
“An interesting aspect that surfaced was the importance of protecting vulnerable populations,” added Lawrence Lokman, vice president for Strategic Communications. “That’s important because a lot of young people don’t feel vulnerable ... but the idea that you could create harm as a carrier to somebody who is more vulnerable is a potentially influential message.”
“Ambassadors” will also be stationed around campus and downtown, at least in the early weeks of the semester, to encourage students to wear masks. Maybe, to inject some levity, an ambassador could throw a penalty flag on someone not wearing a mask, Lokman said. Or the Nittany Lion mascot could be recruited to promote social distancing by increasing his tail length to 6 feet.
One BOT member, Mark Dambly, recommended the ambassadors carry a knapsack with masks, as well.
“I’m sure it will make a difference with some people,” borough Councilman Peter Marshall told the CDT. “The question is: Is it going to make enough of a difference?”
It remains unclear how Penn State might punish offenders who choose not to wear masks downtown. When asked Wednesday, Penn State responded via email Friday, saying only that students “will be held accountable in a manner consistent with how other violations of Penn State guidelines and policies are managed, including through the Student Code of Conduct process.” On campus, Penn State officials have said repeat offenders or recalcitrant students could face suspension.
But, at this point, about a month before students return en masse, a lot of questions remain unanswered. There are ideas and plans, sure, but there’s no telling if they’ll keep the county’s COVID-19 rate at current manageable levels — with 277 cases as of noon Saturday — or whether the county, and especially State College, might be just a few weeks from a worrying increase.
“The community needs to work together,” Myers said. “This is a crisis and, in a crisis, the way America has been successful is commonality in purpose when we unite. And the things we need to unite around are saving lives and providing health and safety to the people who live here.
“We all need to do what we can do ... or I’m really concerned we’re heading for a public health disaster if we can’t get control of this.”
CDT staff writer Marley Parish contributed to this report
This story was originally published July 18, 2020 at 4:42 PM.
