Penn State is considering making changes to its campus masking policies to reflect new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a university release this weekend.
On Friday, the CDC made changes to its community level metrics, which now factor COVID-19 hospitalizations, local hospital capacities and cases into the equation. The CDC now says indoor masking isn’t recommended or required for counties within “low” or “medium” thresholds.
For now, Centre County checks in with a “high” community level, which would keep indoor masking in place for the time being. About 37% of U.S. counties containing 28% of the population remain in the “high” threshold.
Several other Penn State campuses are located in counties already at the low and medium levels. Only 15 of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties are at the high level.
In a release, Penn State officials said the university’s COVID-19 Operations Control Center is using the CDC’s revamped recommendations as it “works to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 across all of Penn State’s locations.” Although Penn State still requires indoor masking on campus, that policy could expire at University Park once Centre County’s COVID-19 transmission threshold dips into “medium” or “low.”
That day might come soon enough, though. On Sunday, Pennsylvania recorded just 915 new COVID-19 cases — the smallest single-day case increase since Aug. 2, while Centre County’s seven-day average is the lowest its been in four months. Local COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their lowest rates since early September, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Statewide, hospitalizations are at their lowest level since Aug. 21.
Penn State’s University Park campus reported just a 0.9% positivity rate through on-campus testing over the last seven days.
About 92% of Penn State students and 86% of employees are vaccinated against COVID-19. Both surpass Centre County’s 63.2% vaccination rate among adults.
State College and Patton Township both have temporary ordinances requiring indoor masking in places open to the public. Those ordinances are based on the CDC’s previous recommendations for communities at the high and substantial level of transmission based on new cases and positivity rates.
Patton Township supervisors discussed potentially rescinding the ordinance during their meeting on Feb. 23, and expect to address the issue further at their March 9 meeting.
State College Borough Council next meets on March 7.
You can use the CDC’s website to find the latest community level for your county.
