Reopening updates: Centre County adds 4 COVID-19 cases, and other updates for July 31

We’re keeping track of the most up-to-date coronavirus news now that Centre County is in the green phase of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plan to reopen Pennsylvania. Check back for updates.

What happens after a Penn State student, faculty or staff member tests positive for COVID-19?

Penn State revealed Thursday its plans for quarantining or isolating students, faculty and staff who test positive for the new coronavirus, contact tracing, and how the university will publicly report the information.

The university’s multipronged approach to mitigating the potential spread of COVID-19 in Happy Valley starts with contact tracing, which health experts have said is a key strategy to containing the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19.

- by Bret Pallotto

Penn State student move-in will look different this year. Here’s what to expect

A traditionally crowded weekend in Happy Valley will look drastically different this year as Penn State students are set to return to campus in less than a month to move in and start the fall semester amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

During a virtual town hall Thursday, university officials outlined COVID-19 mitigation efforts and procedures students and families must follow when returning for in-person classes. First-year students are set to arrive between Aug. 17-20, and returning students will move into residence halls from Aug. 21-23.

- by Marley Parish

Pennsylvania to cover cost of stamps for ballots in election

Pennsylvania will foot the cost of postage for voters to mail in ballots in November’s general election, officials said Friday, a move that Gov. Tom Wolf has made a priority as the coronavirus pandemic unexpectedly fueled high interest in voting by mail under a new state law.

The administration plans to use money from federal emergency coronavirus aid to foot the bill, which could run several million dollars to cover 55 cents for millions of ballots.

- The Associated Press

Pennsylvania Supreme Court tosses challenge to eviction ban

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a challenge to the governor’s statewide moratorium on foreclosures and evictions, leaving in place an order that shields renters from losing their homes for failing to pay rent during the pandemic.

Two months after agreeing to decide the issue, the state’s high court, without explanation, abruptly dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania Residential Owners Association and individual landlords that challenged Gov. Tom Wolf’s constitutional authority to prevent evictions of nonpaying tenants.

- The Associated Press

Board OKs online-only school start for Philadelphia students

The Philadelphia school district has approved plans to offer online-only instruction for students at least through the first marking period that ends in mid-November.

The city school board voted 7-1 on Thursday night to approve the proposal.

On Friday, the board for Pittsburgh Public Schools voted to also start the school year online.

- The Associated Press

Pennsylvania to hire 1,000 more coronavirus contact tracers

The Pennsylvania Department of Health is hiring 1,000 additional contract tracers to bolster the state’s efforts to contain coronavirus outbreaks by quickly notifying people who might have been exposed.

The Health Department on Friday announced a $23 million, federally funded contract with Atlanta-based staffing agency Insight Global to recruit, hire and train the new workers, who will join the state’s existing contact-tracing force of more than 650.

- The Associated Press

Centre County adds 4 COVID-19 cases

Four new cases of COVID-19 were reported Friday in Centre County, according to the state Department of Heath. There have been 357 cases since March 20; 319 are confirmed and 38 are probable.

On Thursday, 24 cases were removed from the county’s total after a weekend spike in positives led to retesting, with seven new cases reported. There have been 8,644 negative tests in Centre County.

Statewide, there were 970 new positive cases, raising the total to 112,048. Philadelphia and Allegheny counties reported 374 of those cases, though several of the Allegheny County cases were from tests taken more two weeks ago.

The age breakdown of patients who tested positive is:

• 1% are 0-4
• 1% are 5-12
• 3% are 13-18
• 9% are 19-24
• 37% are 25-49
• Nearly 23% are 50-64; and
• Nearly 25% are 65 or older

Centre County saw 17 more confirmed cases in the past seven days (July 24-30) than in the previous seven days (July 17-23), according to Friday’s update of the state’s early warning monitoring dashboard. Cases climbed from 27 to 44, while the positivity rate rose from 1.7% to 2.9%. The incidence rate per 100,000 residents increased from 16.6 to 27. Average daily hospitalizations related to COVID-19 fell from 2.1 to 1.7, while emergency department visits due to COVID-like illness were steady.

The breakdown of confirmed Centre County cases by ZIP code is as follows, according to the DOH:

• 16801 (State College): 74
• 16823 (Bellefonte and Pleasant Gap): 61
• 16803 (State College): 49
• 16875 (Spring Mills): 18
• 16841 (Howard): 16
• 16827 (Boalsburg): 15
• 16866 (Philipsburg): 15

• 16870 (Port Matilda): 13

• 16822 (Beech Creek): 12
• 16828 (Centre Hall): 9
• 16686 (Tyrone): 9
• 16853 (Milesburg): 6
• 16865 (Pennsylvania Furnace): 5
• 16666, 16802, 16820, 16829, 16832, 16844, 16845, 16851, 16852, 16854, 16860, 16868, 16872, 16874, 16877, 16882: 1-4 cases each.

The state does not give specific numbers when there are fewer than five cases to protect patient privacy and does not identify exactly where a case occurred in a ZIP code that spans multiple counties.

The state reported 13 new deaths to bring the total to 7,189. Across Pennsylvania, 4,904 of the deaths have occurred in residents of nursing or personal care homes. Eight of the 10 deaths reported in Centre County have been in long-term care facilities.

COVID-19 cases have been reported in 33 residents and 19 employees of five nursing and personal care homes in Centre County.

- by Matt Hymowitz

Here’s how Penn State plans to test students, faculty and staff for COVID-19, before and after classes start

Penn State will test about 30,000 individuals — across all campuses — for COVID-19 before the official move-in, as part of a multi-pronged coronavirus testing plan the university unveiled Thursday during a virtual town hall.

Although Penn State doesn’t yet have all the specifics — plans are still being finalized for on-campus testing, for instance — Thursday’s public announcement offered the most detailed look yet at the school’s testing plans, which are widely regarded as among the most important in fighting the pandemic.

- by Josh Moyer

New Penn State group to hold virtual rally centered on university’s COVID-19 response

A new Penn State group, whose organizers wrote an open letter last month expressing serious concern about the university’s fall reopening, announced Wednesday it will hold a virtual rally next week, open to the public.

The group, organized by faculty and recently dubbed the Coalition for a Just University (CJU/PSU), will host an online Zoom meeting at noon Aug. 5 “to promote public health, job security, transparency and democratic decision making at the university in the face of the pandemic.” Those interested can register online at bit.ly/cjurally.

- by Josh Moyer

Pennsylvania news

• Gov. Tom Wolf responded on social media Friday to rumors of a that he would soon announce a statewide school closure. “I want to be clear: I am not closing school buildings or cancelling classes,” Wolf tweeted. In a subsequent tweet, he said decisions about school openings and the status of in-person classes will be left to local school boards and administrators.

Community outreach/appreciation

Things to do

• Downtown Bellefonte will hold a Friday in the ‘Fonte celebration on July 31, with two pop-up outdoor dining spaces, as well as a Sidewalk Sale. The monthly event aims to support Bellefonte’s shopping, dining, craft beverage producers and more and is held on the last Friday of each month.

Campus check-in

• As August arrives, Michigan has forged ahead as if its season would begin at some point in the late summer or early fall. Players went through their steps in walkthroughs even though it’s not quite certain who they’ll face in their first game or where they’ll play. One Wolverines staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, admitted he was as clueless as anybody about his team’s order of opponents, unsure if U-M will still match up against Wisconsin in its Sept. 26 opener or some other team on another date. Not long thereafter, the Big Ten sent a letter Thursday to athletic directors at its member schools that did little to clarify the situation.
• The Pac-12 on Friday set Sept. 26 as the start of its 10-game, conference-only football schedule, joining the Southeastern Conference in pushing back its season by nearly a month because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• Indiana University’s football team has resumed voluntary workouts after a two-week pause following six positive COVID-19 tests.
• George Washington is discontinuing seven sports programs, three that compete at the NCAA level and four non-NCAA sports, as part of the university’s attempt to address an expected $200 million budget shortfall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
• The sideline area college football teams use to congregate will be extended by 20 yards this season and only one captain from each team will be permitted to participate in the pregame or overtime coin toss.
• There has been a spike in the number of Rutgers’ football players who have tested positive for COVID-19. New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said the number is now 15 and noted that even smaller gatherings can lead to positive tests.
• Georgia Tech has moved this season’s home game against Notre Dame to its campus stadium, citing uncertainty over scheduling because of the coronavirus pandemic.

• The Southeastern Conference reconfigured its schedule Thursday to include only league games in 2020, a pandemic-forced decision that pushes major college football closer to a siloed regular season in which none of the power conferences cross paths.

Free food options

This story was originally published July 31, 2020 at 11:01 AM.