Dear Pitt Community,

As of Monday, March 22, the Pitt COVID-19 dashboard reflects the following:

The scope of our dashboard and these updates is limited to people who have been on a Pitt campus within the last 14 days.

The Pittsburgh campus is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases after two consecutive weekends where students gathered in large numbers. While we currently have high isolation housing availability, we are forecasting an increase in cases based on local conditions—case numbers are rising in Allegheny and Westmoreland Counties—and low compliance off campus. We have confirmed that the U.K. variant, B.1.1.7, is present on the Pittsburgh campus. This variant is more transmissible and will likely lead to an increase in cases.  Participating in testing this week will help provide a clearer picture of the situation we face. Regional campus case numbers remain low.

Many student groups are requesting to reserve spaces for events on campus throughout the remainder of the term. For in-person events to be approved, we need to reverse this trend of cases. Please continue to wear a face covering, keep your distance from others, don’t gather in large numbers, avoid making new close contacts and maintain good hand hygiene—even outdoors, even if you’ve been vaccinated. We will stop the spread faster together.

The University of Pittsburgh has received 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PADOH) to be distributed to people eligible in Phase 1A. These doses are being made available first to Phase 1A eligible members of the University’s custodial, food service, security and transportation teams. The COVID-19 Medical Response Office has communicated with eligible employees with registration details. In addition, because the PADOH asked us to include underserved communities in our distribution, a small number of these doses are being made available to members of neighboring communities.

In providing this allotment of vaccines, the Pennsylvania Department of Health made clear that this was a limited distribution and that additional first dose vaccines may not be made available next week. While this makes planning difficult, we are prepared to administer doses to those that are eligible as vaccine become available to us.

If you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine under Pennsylvania Phase 1A, please take the first opportunity offered to you to get vaccinated. Why get the vaccine? Several reasons—including that it’s safe—and the faster we can get shots in arms, the sooner we can get back to normal.

If you are interested in volunteering at the Allegheny County vaccine clinics at the Petersen Events Center this week, make sure you follow the appropriate sign up steps to volunteer. While nonclinical personnel are welcome, we are in critical need of clinical volunteers.

There is no surveillance testing happening on Wednesday this week in observance of Self Care Day.

If you feel you may have been exposed to COVID-19 over the weekend, please come for focused testing at Posvar Hall at one of the available times on Thursday or Friday listed in PittSwab Scheduler.

From a public health perspective, it is important to detect as many positive cases as possible to stop further spread. No questions will be asked if you come for testing. We discourage relying on testing as an “all clear” to spend time around others, unmasked. It is possible to get a negative test result while you have COVID-19 if the test is taken too early. Everyone needs to keep close contacts to a minimum.

In addition to regular hours, Student Health Service on the Pittsburgh campus is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays for students experiencing symptoms of COVID-19. Appointments are required. If you have symptoms, call Student Health at 412-383-1800 to schedule a test.

Thanks, as always, for your partnership and patience.

Sincerely,

COVID-19 Medical Response Office