Penn State's COVID-19 Positive Rate Remains Low Among Athletes

Penn State President Eric Barron cites "uptick" in symptomatic cases among students at University Park.

Penn State continues to report low positive rates for COVID-19 among athletes, adding one new case last week.

In its latest COVID-19 data release, Penn State Athletics reported one positive result among 222 tests administered from Aug. 24-28. The number of tests includes 46 for the period from Aug. 17-21 that were not included in last week's report.

Since its teams resumed voluntary workouts in June, Penn State has reported 11 positive cases among at least 1,273 tests of athletes.

Penn State resumed in-person classes Aug. 24. Athletes who left campus prior to starting in-person classes were required to quarantine for seven days and be re-tested before resuming voluntary workouts.

"We expect our student-athletes to follow University requirements and guidelines for limiting the spread of COVID-19, including wearing masks, practicing social distancing, washing their hands regularly and not gathering in large groups," an athletic department statement said.

The university this week reported 25 additional positive cases of COVID-19 among 268 cases conductive of those with symptoms from Aug 28-30. Across the university, Penn State has reported 73 positive cases among 6,632 total tests.

Penn State releases its testing data twice weekly, on Tuesday and Friday, on its COVID-19 dashboard.

Penn State will hold classes on Labor Day, and President Eric Barron asked students not to travel or invite out-of-town guests to campus this weekend.

“While we are seeing an uptick in the symptomatic positive numbers, this data reflects that our system is working as symptomatic students are seeking testing at University Health Services and we are reaching people through our contact tracing process,” Barron said in a statement. "If we are to remain on our campuses for the rest of the fall semester, we absolutely must continue to be diligent in taking personal steps to slow the spread of the virus.

"This is a critical time. It’s vital that students do not travel over the Labor Day holiday weekend or at other times, whenever possible, so they do not contract the coronavirus elsewhere and bring it back to our campus communities. Students also are strongly urged to not host out-of-town guests, who, unbeknownst to them, may be infected.”

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