Penn maintains a positivity rate of 1% as thousands of students arrive on campus

Penn maintained a COVID-19 positivity rate of 1% for the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 16 as thousands of students arrived in Philadelphia.

The University performed 8,488 total tests resulting in 85 positive results. Students who got to campus during the move-in period were required to take gateway tests on the day of their arrival before beginning their regular testing protocols.

Penn performed 153 tests for people who either had symptoms or had close contact with someone with COVID-19. Among these individuals, there was a 14.93% positivity rate.

There are currently 107 students with COVID-19 in isolation and 101 students in quarantine who were exposed to COVID-19 but remain healthy. The available on-campus isolation capacity is currently at 94.6%.

The University is operating at Level 2: Heightened Awareness due to conditions that suggest increased exposure or cases. 

Penn transitioned to a hybrid model for the spring semester, welcoming more than 3,000 students back to campus last week for the first time since March.

The University increased COVID-19 precautions to account for the large number of students returning to campus. Under the Penn Cares testing program, undergraduates living on and off campus must schedule a saliva-based screening test twice a week on pre-assigned days. Graduate students and faculty who live on campus are required to schedule a screening test twice a week on days of their choosing, and off-campus graduate students and faculty and staff who visit campus must be tested once a week.

Members of the Penn community are also required to perform daily symptom checks through the PennOpen Pass system. In addition, students must adhere to a Quiet Period until Feb. 1, which asks students to not leave their residences for non-essential activities.

There are eight operational testing facilities open for the spring semester.