Campus Life

Penn State COVID-19 dashboard updated with testing data through Jan. 28

Pre-semester testing emphasized for students ahead of return to campuses

Credit: Curtis Chan / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s COVID-19 dashboard has been updated to show the latest results of University-provided testing. Over the last seven days (data through Jan. 28) at the University Park campus, 2,483 total tests have been administered, resulting in 190 positive cases, for a total seven-day positivity rate of 7.7%. This includes 173 student positive results from 2,220 student tests performed and 17 employee positives from 263 employee tests.

At all other Penn State campuses, there have been no employee positive results and one student positive result, involving a student at Penn State Hershey, over the last seven days.

The dashboard also includes the current status of required spring 2021 pre-semester testing, which Penn State has implemented to reduce the risk of virus transmission as students return to campus or their campus communities. To date, 11,019 pre-semester tests have been administered University-wide, resulting in 287 positive results and a positivity rate of 2.6%. Students from all campuses are required to participate in pre-semester COVID-19 testing and must have a negative COVID-19 test result from a University-provided test on file prior to, and within 72 hours of, their return to their campus community.

For students who have already returned to their campus community, Penn State has testing options available to identify potential positive cases in a timely manner, and the University is conducting contact tracing and making use of quarantine and isolation capabilities to mitigate further spread of the virus.

At University Park there are currently 34 students in quarantine and isolation housing, representing 9% of the total 400-room quarantine and isolation capacity at Eastview Terrace. There are currently no students in quarantine and isolation housing at the Commonwealth Campuses.

In light of the recent upswing in positive cases at University Park, and as students begin returning to their campus communities in advance of the transition to on-campus instruction on Feb. 15, community members are urged to follow all public health guidelines that were in place during the fall semester. This includes:

  • Wearing a face mask at all times in campus buildings, and outdoors when you can’t be physically distant from others.
  • Practicing physical distancing.
  • Avoiding large gatherings.

Students in particular are expected to abide by all campus and local municipality policies and ordinances, and to follow the clearly outlined expectations and responsibilities of members of the campus community in the University's COVID-19 Compact. Violations of the University’s expectations or local or state laws related to COVID-19 will typically result in a referral to the Office of Student Conduct and possible sanctions.

Detailed information about Penn State’s spring semester COVID-19 testing plans and current testing options can be found on a new testing page on the University’s official coronavirus information website.

Last Updated January 29, 2021