COVID-19 and Penn State football: What should Centre County expect in a pandemic home opener?
For weeks, Centre County residents have wondered what the first home football weekend of the season might look like: Will there be a large influx of visitors? Will parties rage downtown? Will COVID-19 run rampant?
And while some of those initial concerns appear unfounded — local officials say hotels aren’t even half-full, for example — concern still remains over whether a big football night game on Halloween might lead to more student parties and greater COVID-19 spread.
“On a college campus, I think Halloween and the football game is a superspreader event,” said Dr. David Rubin, lead investigator of a COVID-19 forecasting model at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. “And, certainly, State College and Penn State should disincentivize it by shutting down the parties this weekend.”
Several large gatherings took place during last week’s season opener against Indiana. Hundreds of students gathered, largely maskless, at common areas in Here State College, The Rise at State College and Penn Tower — violations of a borough ordinance that forbids more than 10 people to gather outside a residence. Police released 60 photographs Thursday of attendees and said Friday that they’ve received information about 42 of those people, who could face $300 citations and university sanctions.
“There has been a major effort by State College borough and university officials to help deter events that could very detrimentally affect the safety of all our community members,” police said in a news release.
Borough and township officials have been in talks with the offending apartment complexes, which have already said they’ve restricted such areas and posted flyers around their respective buildings. But officials also know those efforts alone won’t stamp out large gatherings around the State College area. Nothing might completely eliminate them.
So what can residents expect Saturday?
Large influx of visitors?
Rumors have swirled over the past few days that hotels are packed and hordes of fans are expected to descend on Happy Valley.
But that’s simply not the case, several officials told the Centre Daily Times.
As of Thursday, according to Fritz Smith, president and CEO of the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, county hotels are running at about a 30% occupancy with about 17% of available Airbnb properties booked.
Edward Tubbs, who oversees six area hotels as chief operating officer of Hospitality Asset Management Company, said Thursday none of his hotels are above 50% occupancy. That includes the downtown Days Inn by Wyndham Penn State.
“There is just a vicious rumor going around,” Tubbs said, referring to the notion of full hotels. “I can assure you that is not the case by any means.”
That does not mean there will be no visitors, of course. Facebook groups such as PSU Nation have featured fans stating their intentions to visit Happy Valley. And hotel occupancy doesn’t take into account out-of-towners staying with friends, those arriving in RVs and fans making day-trips.
But visitors do not appear to be Saturday’s main concern. Penn State President Eric Barron has repeatedly called for potential visitors to enjoy the game from afar — as has coach James Franklin — while lauding the university’s “Our Community. Our Responsibility” motto. And both the borough and university have tried to disincentivize alumni from making the trip.
“We have been working in active partnership with the alumni association, business and civic leaders, law enforcement, student leaders and others to mitigate spread and help promote community safety,” the university wrote in a statement to the CDT. “And we are prepared to hold students found to have violated university requirements accountable. Depending upon the offense, the consequences can include suspension or expulsion.”
What to expect Saturday
All football game day parking areas will be closed — and monitored — while tailgating and gatherings on campus will not be allowed. Two campus roadways near the stadium will be closed Saturday, parts of Curtin Road and Porter Road, and the CATA buses will adjust from the closures.
Downtown and around State College, police plan to step up their patrols. Although there won’t technically be as many police working Saturday as a normal football weekend — there’s no need to staff the stadium, after all, with no public admission — there will actually be “slightly more” daytime patrols around town compared to a normal football weekend, per State College Lt. Greg Brauser.
Nighttime will see the same levels of staffing as an average game day.
“What was seen last weekend is what we’re anticipating seeing this weekend, maybe a little more activity just because of the Halloween weekend,” Brauser added. “That’s traditionally one of our busiest weekends anyway and, when you throw a football game on top of it, there’s more of an incentive for kids to try and have gatherings and parties.”
Brauser said police plan to respond to every gathering they’re made aware of. (Police can be reached at 234-7150.) And violators risk a $300 fine from the borough, in addition to potential university sanctions, for large gatherings or not wearing a mask.
On top of enforcement, the university — which also now has the ability to issue the $300 citations — has offered Penn State students an alternative to those apartment parties.
It is holding three socially-distanced student viewing parties at the lacrosse field, softball park and baseball park. Tickets are required but free, and there will be free snack packs and giveaways of Apple watches, gift cards and the like.
“There is strong empirical evidence to show that masked outdoor events have lower risk of transmission,” Matt Ferrari, co-chair of Penn State’s Public Health and Science Assessment task force, said in a written statement. “In fact, in the context of public health, it is in our best interest to work to offer outdoor activities that are attractive to our students and that can help deter less-safe behaviors.”
Downtown businesses
Curtis Shulman, the operations director for Hotel State College & Co., is expecting business as usual in downtown State College.
Because capacity is already capped at 50% for bars and restaurants — and because both outside lines and bar seating are forbidden — Shulman said his businesses like Zeno’s Pub and Bill Pickle’s Tap Room are already at capacity most Saturdays. So, even if visitors would make their way to Happy Valley, it’s not as if there’s room for business to double.
Bars still have to stop serving alcohol by 11 p.m. And there can be no alcohol on the floor after midnight.
“Our expectation is inside our walls, it’s business as usual,” Shulman added.
The main change Shulman made is simply hiring a few more security guards, who can explain to visitors what’s changed and why they can’t wait in line anymore. Instead of waiting in line, which is also disallowed due to social-distancing concerns, restaurants and bars have provided services that virtually hold spots in line.
The businesses of Hotel State College utilize “WaitList Me,” where customers can simply walk up to the restaurant, put in their names and then receive a text when a table’s ready. Other downtown bars, such as Phyrst and Primanti Bros., use an online app called “LineLeap.”
But other businesses, not related to the restaurant industry, still aren’t taking any chances Saturday.
Designer’s Denn Salon & Spa, on Calder Way, informed its clients it plans to close two hours early Saturday, at 3 p.m. due to concerns “it will be crazy,” according to an email sent to customers.
“We just want to get out of town before any of the nonsense starts up,” owner Melinda Hooper told the CDT.
Hooper said the decision was partly made because reservations were fewer than usual, due to clients’ concern, and partly because she wanted to ensure the safety or her staff and customers. Last week, for example, her business wasn’t far from a large gathering of mostly maskless students.
“It’s going to be Halloween, the Ohio State football game, GameDay and a full moon,” Hooper said. “That’s why we’re closing early.”
The main concern
Despite the messaging of the university, the concern of the borough and the preparation of the police, gatherings are still expected Saturday. COVID-19 risks can be mitigated, not eliminated.
The main question is just how many of those parties will still take place, further putting the community at risk as COVID-19 testing positivity is once again starting to increase and transmission continues to spill over to the non-student community.
State College borough Mayor Ron Filippelli hoped to see this play out a little differently. He joined 11 other mayors of Big Ten towns in writing an open letter to the conference earlier this month, asking in part for no night games and to know kickoff times in advance.
Obviously, with Penn State set to play No. 3 Ohio State at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the letter fell on deaf ears. And that’s led to Filippelli’s biggest concerns.
“The problem with night games is that students will start partying earlier in the day,” Filippelli said. “They’ll gather in watch parties in apartments, so that’s always problematic because we worry about overuse of alcohol and EMS problems.
“But, to me, the biggest concern I have is if Penn State wins the game, that could have — after all this stuff building up and everyone drinking — you could have thousands of students downtown celebrating after the game.”
Such a scene, one that’s unfolded countless times at Beaver Canyon, could undoubtedly become a superspreader event during the pandemic. Brauser said police are hoping for the best while planning for the worst, so they’ll be prepared.
But despite officials’ planning, the most important question — how many large gatherings will take place? — remains unknown. With hospitalizations at Mount Nittany Medical Center reaching or tying new highs, and with coronavirus cases expected to rise as temperatures drop, the stakes are high. Even higher than what happens Saturday night inside a lit-up Beaver Stadium.
“I want to ask people to be careful and don’t take actions that are dangerous,” Filippelli said. “Don’t drink dangerously. Don’t join together in large numbers in crowded situations.
“And wear a mask — I always want to ask the community to do that.”
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 4:06 PM.
