Pitt students shelter in place to start spring semester

Students returning Monday to the University of Pittsburgh campus in Oakland for the start of the spring semester have been ordered to remain in their dorms and get tested to make sure they have not been infected with coronavirus.

The university announced it will provide its approximately 34,000 returning students with a free covid test through Quest Diagnostics.

Pitt announced on Dec. 30 that classes would be remote for the first two and a half weeks of the semester, with exceptions made for programs and classes that require in-person attendance. Pitt intends to return fully to in-person classes on Jan. 27.

School officials asked students to submit the results of the test prior to returning to campus housing. Unvaccinated students living on campus are required to submit a negative covid test result prior to returning to classes.

Students began returning to dorms on Saturday.

“After arriving, students should shelter in place for at least five days, whether you live on or off campus,” officials from Pitt’s Covid-19 Medical Response Office said.

In the Dec. 30 notice to students and parents, the university said exceptions to the remote classes rule “may be made by approval of the dean for programs and classes that need to meet in person. If the dean approves an in-person class during shelter in place, vaccinated students may attend as long as they are not symptomatic and not covid-19 positive.”

Then, on Jan. 27, “Students should not go to class until they’ve received a negative covid-19 test result,” officials wrote. “Students who test positive will be provided details on how to isolate.”

The situation differs slightly at the school’s Greensburg campus. There, classes, beginning Monday, will be taught remotely for the first week of the semester. If conditions permit, students and instructors will return in-person on Jan. 18, adhering to protocols used in the fall semester.

University officials also asked students on all campuses to limit close contact, wear a face covering and practice social distancing.

Students were asked to leave their residences only to attend in-person classes, pick up food, visit the library and for other essential activities. Group study should be done remotely, officials said.

For classes in which in-person instruction has been approved, students should only attend if they have been vaccinated and do not have covid symptoms. Unvaccinated students must provide the university with weekly covid tests that show they are negative for the virus.

All staff and students must also wear a face covering when inside all campus buildings.

Public access to Pitt buildings also is being restricted to reduce the spread of coronavirus.