Group demands transparency from Penn State heading into in-person semester
As we approached fall 2020, the Coalition for a Just University at Penn State sounded the alarm regarding the university’s meager COVID-19 testing plans, inadequate measures for quarantining students and poor messaging to students concerning their rights and responsibilities. As projected, the student return to campus resulted in infection spikes in Centre County.
As of Saturday, the county has had 11,735 positive COVID-19 cases and 201 deaths. The Penn State COVID-19 dashboard registered 241 positive cases among students in the last seven days, as students began to return to campus even before classes began in person.
As we prepare for another semester with students returning to campus, here are some sobering facts:
Multiple new strains, or mutations, of the virus have emerged. B. 1.7.7. was first identified in Britain and has been registered in at least 30 states in the U.S. as of Jan. 31. Virologists have deemed this strain 70% more contagious than the original, however its lethality is unclear. Two additional strains, from South Africa (B.1.351) and Brazil (P.1), have also been recently identified.
The approved vaccines were developed using the DNA sequence of the virus released by China early in the pandemic, therefore it is not known whether the vaccines will be as effective against the new viral strains. Early reports indicate a potentially decreased efficacy against the South Africa strain.
While other states in the U.S., namely New York, Florida and California, have already vaccinated several million people, most Pennsylvania counties are stalled at Phase 1A. Vaccination appointments through Mount Nittany Health’s website, for instance, are soon filled after opening. There is more demand than supply.
Students, faculty and staff are not in the priority groups to be vaccinated, in accordance with CDC recommendations. Pennsylvania’s plan names “educators” in Phase 1B, but it is not clear when Penn State faculty, not only in Centre Country but across the commonwealth, would be next in line. Given that residents of Centre County, and State College in particular, are likely not considered urgent priority, we can project that most of the Penn State community will not be vaccinated until April or early May.
A major obstacle regarding vaccination as it impacts our community is state residency of our students — many may be eligible to be vaccinated in their home states, while others are not. The key issue is potentially undermining the efficacy of the vaccines if we allow temporal lags and disparities to dictate how we control the spread of the virus.
The university administration made the prudent decision to delay the return of in resident instruction until Feb. 15, however it is not clear why this date was chosen. In tandem, there has been no transparency regarding alternative plans if that return date proves to be unfeasible. Additionally, by that date the new viral strains will likely be present in our commonwealth, not just at State College but wherever a Penn State campus is located. We educate students from across the U.S. and the world, as such we are poised to affect the duration of the pandemic, expose our Penn State communities to yet-unstudied strains of COVID-19, and potentially negate the gains of vaccines and other efforts to halt viral spread.
In the face of these sobering facts, it is imperative we demand the following of the Penn State administration, even if in the last month the university has implemented some of these measures:
De-densification of campuses based on an assessment of testing capabilities
100% pre-arrival testing, following state Health Department recommendations for colleges and universities
Immediate on-arrival testing and quarantine for students who, for any reason, did not complete the pre-arrival test
Free quarantine and isolation housing and meal availability for all students, regardless of residential status (on vs. off campus)
Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments certification of the Testing and Surveillance Center lab
Clear, precise and objective guidelines for when in-person instruction should be paused or completely stopped
Develop/use educational materials that focus on the positive aspects of mask wearing and social distancing, with emphasis on family/community protection
The most important demand, however, is an administration both transparent in its decision-making process and forthcoming with its contingency plans in the likely event that we will hit new high spikes of infections, most likely of the more contagious B.1.7.7. strain.