In an email, Penn announced that all students need to be tested 48 hours prior to arriving on campus and receive a gateway test upon arrival.
Credit: Savanna CohenPenn reiterated its pre-arrival testing requirements and announced that it will require double-masking or using a KN95 or N95 mask ahead of the spring semester.
In the Jan. 7 email sent on Friday evening by Penn President Amy Gutmann, Interim Provost Beth Winkelstein, Senior Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, and Executive Vice President for the Health System J. Larry Jameson, University administrators announced that all students need to be tested for COVID-19 48 hours prior to arriving on campus and receive a gateway test upon arrival.
While a PCR test is recommended, a rapid test is also accepted.
Penn also announced that four vaccine booster clinics will be held during the month of January — on Jan. 14, 17, 18, and 19. According to a Dec. 21 announcement, members of the Penn community are required to receive a COVID-19 booster shot by the end of January.
Students who receive a positive PCR result must report their result through email and on PennOpen Pass. Positive rapid test results should be reported through PennOpen Pass. Students who receive a positive test result must self-isolate at home rather than return to campus. Negative results from either type of test do not need to be reported, according to Penn administrators.
Students, faculty, staff, and postdoctoral students must complete a gateway COVID-19 test through Penn upon arrival to campus. Anyone who arrives on campus after the end of January should receive a gateway test the day they arrive.
Administrators also announced that starting Jan. 10, all members of the Penn community are required to double-mask or use a KN95 or N95 mask when indoors. Double-masking is defined by the email as "layering a cloth mask on top of a disposable mask."
Penn administrators wrote in the email that these health and safety measures are subject to change as the situation evolves.
"We are grateful for the extraordinary resilience and flexibility of our Penn community as we move forward, and we hope to be able to share some better days ahead in 2022,” the administrators wrote.
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