Penn State announces 148 covid-19 cases from pre-arrival testing

Penn State on Friday launched its COVID-19 dashboard, which updates weekly — campus-by-campus — its positive cases and testing numbers, while also announcing Friday that 148 positive cases were uncovered during pre-arrival testing.

The pre-arrival tests mean those students are not yet on campus, although that underscores a larger concern that many students could unknowingly bring the coronavirus to Happy Valley as asymptomatic carriers, meaning they show no outward signs of infection. About 24,000 pre-arrival student tests were expected to take place across all campuses — around 25% of the student population — but only about half of those test results are so far known.

According to the university, those 148 positive cases came from 12,037 tests. Another 5,005 tests are awaiting outcomes as of Thursday, meaning about 7,000 tests still hadn’t been submitted. (The breakdown specific to University Park is not known.) Those who tested positive were told to isolate for 10 days at home, until symptoms resolve and a health professional clears them.

Those positive cases are not included in the COVID-19 dashboard since, again, those students are not yet on campus. At University Park, according to the dashboard, two positive student cases were found during 281 asymptomatic tests this past week. One student is in isolation.

“The information displayed on the dashboard will play a critical role in allowing our campus communities to monitor their own wellness and helping to keep our campuses safe,” Kelly Wolgast, director of Penn State’s COVID-19 Operations Control Center, said in a written statement. “If we see cases remaining flat or falling, we will know that our community is taking the appropriate steps to limit the spread of the virus. If we see cases rise, it’s important to share that information publicly so that our community can double down on masking and social distancing or take additional mitigation steps.”

The university plans to randomly test about 1% of the student, faculty and staff population every day once classes start Monday. It said it might also increase that surveillance testing depending on the results.

“COVID-19 surveillance is a necessary and critical part of our strategy designed to keep our community healthy and to watch for signs of the virus on our campuses,” Wolgast added. “One hundred percent participation is important as we seek to mitigate the spread of the virus.”

Some students have already drawn the ire of President Eric Barron, who excoriated the freshmen who took part in an impromptu gathering involving hundreds Wednesday night outside of East Halls. He threatened to move all instruction to online-only if necessary, also saying “possible expulsion” would be on the table.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, symptoms can show up anywhere from 2-14 days after exposure. Early symptoms of COVID-19 include cough, fever, muscle pain and a sore throat.

As of noon Friday, Centre County has experienced 410 cases of the coronavirus since the pandemic’s start, per the state Department of Health. Students were not in session during the spring when the county experienced its first positive test result around March 20.