Coronavirus Information

Latest updates

I am an employee. What do I do if I have tested positive for COVID-19?

Faculty and staff who have symptoms of COVID-19 should stay home from work, contact their supervisor and their primary care provider and get tested for COVID-19.

If the test result is positive, the employee should continue to stay home from work and contact their supervisor regarding taking time off or working remotely. Faculty and staff with a positive test result also should call Occupational Medicine at 814-865-8612, then email Occupational Medicine at psuoccmed@psu.edu with the following information:

• First & Last Name
• Penn State 9-Digit Number
• Date symptoms began
• Date employee tested positive for COVID-19
• Date of the first day work was missed
• Y/N – Are you able to work remotely?

Occupational Medicine will respond back to your email and include your immediate supervisor/manager, and Absence Management on the employee’s status.

The current CDC guidelines for COVID-19 quarantine and isolation vary based on symptoms and an individual’s vaccination status. The guidelines can be found on the CDC website. Additional information is available on the Penn State Human Resources website.

How can I find COVID-19 resources in my local community?

On March 30, 2022, the federal government launched COVID.gov, a toolkit to provide information on resources for masks, treatment, vaccine, and testing related to COVID-19. The resources are searchable by county and are presented in English, Spanish, and Simplified Chinese. The federal government is also making the resources available over the phone through the National Hotline at 1-800-232-0233 (TTY 1-888-720-7489), which supports over 150 languages. More information can be found on this White House fact sheet.

What is the masking policy for in-person human subjects research?

At all Penn State locations except the College of Medicine, Penn State Health and other facilities/buildings with specific masking requirements, masking is optional for in-person human subjects research that recruits healthy participants, as of March 23. For studies recruiting high-risk participants (as defined by the CDC), masking continues to be required for both participants and study team members at all indoor locations.

For more information, please visit https://www.research.psu.edu/covid_irb online.

What should I do if an employee I supervise refuses to follow masking requirements?

In situations where employees refuse to adhere to masking requirements, the steps below should be taken:

• The manager should have a conversation with the employee to remind them of the masking requirements.
• Failure to comply with the requirements following the conversation should result in the employee being sent home for the remainder of the day with the expectation they return to work the next business day in compliance. The employee should utilize accrued vacation or personal time (if available) or be placed on an unpaid leave status for the absence.
• The manager should discuss the situation with their HR Strategic Partner who will in turn consult with Labor and Employee Relations. Upon the employee’s return to on-site work, steps should be taken to document the violation using HR 78  Staff Employee Failure to Meet Acceptable Standards of Performance in consultation with their HR Strategic Partner.
• If the employee persists in their refusal to follow the University requirement, then the employee must be sent home again and utilize accrued vacation or personal time (if available) or be placed on an unpaid leave status.
• In cases of repeated noncompliant behavior, managers should discuss continued utilization of HR 78  Staff Employee Failure to Meet Acceptable Standards of Performance with their respective HR Strategic Partner, which could lead to termination of the employee.

What are the masking requirements for summer 2022?

Masks are not currently required at most campuses as they are located in counties with low or medium COVID-19 Community Levels, according to the CDC. However, at this time, the College of Medicine will continue the mask mandate in alignment with Penn State Health to support patient care.

At other Penn State campuses, face masks are optional in most indoor spaces. Individuals who wish to continue wearing masks at these locations are encouraged to do so.

Masks continue to be required where mandated by law, regulation or rule — including under guidance particular to individual workplaces or health care settings and COVID-19 testing centers.

At mask-optional campuses, masks are required for some in-person human subjects research. On these campuses, masking is optional for in-person human subjects research that recruits healthy participants; for studies recruiting high-risk participants (as defined by the CDC), masking continues to be required for both participants and study team members at all indoor locations.

Employees at Penn State who work in their own individual offices on mask-optional campuses may request that visitors wear masks while in their private offices, and faculty may request that their students wear masks during classes. The University asks that community members cooperate respectfully with these requests.