With delta variant picking up, Penn State shifts COVID-19 policy to require masks indoors for all
About 24 hours after Penn State released its COVID-19-related policies, the university is changing its masking policy as the delta variant’s spread quickens — and is immediately requiring masks in all indoor public spaces across all campuses.
Penn State President Eric Barron sent an email to the university community Wednesday night, about 26 hours after the completion of a related town hall, informing students and employees about the shift. Barron noted that quite a bit has changed in that short time period.
Originally, the university planned to adjust its masking policy on a campus-by-campus basis, based on county transmission reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If counties experienced substantial or high transmission, as defined by the CDC, masks would be required for all at that respective campus. At the time, only a handful of counties in Pennsylvania fell into those categories — but that changed overnight, with now nearly half of the commonwealth seeing substantial transmission or worse.
“Penn State is taking this proactive measure to protect the health and safety of our campuses and help mitigate the spread of this virus within our community,” Barron said in a written statement. “As we continue to see daily increases in COVID-19 cases, particularly the delta variant, our current outlook warrants this protective step.
“I continue to look forward to a return to robust, in-person experiences, and hope this is a reassuring adjustment for students, faculty and staff. To have a successful semester, it’s going to take all of us doing our parts to support the well-being of our entire community.”
Centre County, home to University Park, remains under moderate transmission — for now — but will still require masks indoors for all as a precautionary measure. On Tuesday, only the unvaccinated were required to mask indoors on the flagship campus.
The delta variant has fueled a resurgence of COVID-19 across the country. According to the CDC, weekly cases more than quintupled from the week ending June 30 compared to the week ending July 30. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to the president, told McClatchy on Wednesday that daily coronavirus cases could double in the coming weeks to 200,000.
On June 14, the daily number of cases in the U.S. stood at 8,069.
Even if Fauci is correct, that estimate remains significantly less than at the pandemic’s height — daily cases numbered 295,880 on Jan. 7 — but the renowned COVID-19 expert remains concerned such transmission would give the virus “ample” opportunity to mutate into a deadlier strain that renders vaccines less effective.
Penn State has eschewed formal recommendations to mandate the COVID-19 vaccine from University Park’s undergraduate student government, the faculty senate and the State College Borough Council. Instead, it has opted to “heavily incentivize” the vaccine, encouraging it but not requiring it.
The university estimates via anonymous, nonscientific surveys that 82% of University Park students are currently vaccinated along with 93% of UPark employees.
Getting the vaccine does not guarantee someone will not got the virus, but it does greatly increase the chance the coronavirus will cause only mild symptoms. The Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to health policy, found that more than 90% of cases — and more than 95% of hospitalizations and deaths — have come from the unvaccinated, based on available data.
“We are taking this proactive step as one critical measure to support the well-being of our community, along with initiatives like the comprehensive testing strategy for students and employees we announced (Tuesday),” said Kelly Wolgast, director of the COVID-19 Operations Control Center. “We continue to stress the importance for all students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as possible. Vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself from serious illness leading to hospitalization and death.”
In an online announcement, Penn State clarified that all community members — students, faculty, staff, visitors; everybody — must wear masks indoors in all classrooms, common areas in residence halls and during indoor events. Individuals can still eat in designated food service areas, and students living in residence halls aren’t required to wear masks in their living spaces. Likewise, employees with individual offices are not required to wear masks in said offices.
The university announced a number of guidelines and policies during Tuesday’s virtual town hall, such as urging all students — even those who are vaccinated — to get tested if they experience symptoms. But officials were also quick to add those policies could change if the pandemic worsens.
Most just didn’t foresee a change taking place 24 hours later.
“The health and safety of our faculty, staff, students, visitors and their families remain our top concern, and I continue to strongly urge everyone to get vaccinated as soon as they can, if they have not done so already,” Barron wrote in Wednesday night’s email to the community.
“I remain excited and optimistic with the fall semester’s approach, but we are in the midst of a pandemic and we need everyone’s cooperation if we are to return to the robust, in-person campus experience that we all look forward to.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2021 at 7:38 PM.
