Dear Pitt Community,

As of Thursday, Nov. 5, 2020, the Pitt COVID-19 dashboard reflects the following:
 

» On the Pittsburgh campus, since our last update on Tuesday, Nov. 3:

• The 5-day moving average of positive cases per day went from 3.2 to 8.2.
• 32 students have tested positive since Tuesday.
• 52 student cases are active in isolation.
• 2 new faculty or staff cases have been reported.
   

» On the regional campuses, since our last report: 

• Pitt-Johnstown has had 1 new student case; there were no new student cases at either Pitt-Greensburg or Pitt-Bradford.
• None of the regional campuses had any new faculty/staff cases since our last report. 

» The Greensburg, Pittsburgh and Titusville campuses remain in the Guarded Risk Posture.

» The Bradford and Johnstown campuses are in the Elevated Risk Posture.

Regional campuses have responded well to mitigation measures put in place over the past few weeks.

The 5-day moving average of positive cases per day on the Pittsburgh campus has more than doubled over the last three days. It is now at 8.2, which is higher than what we have considered to be low and steady for this campus in the past. There are high numbers of students in active isolation.

The increase we’ve seen this week is based on students who live together or who have been socializing without face coverings and physical distancing.  In addition, we suspect that some of the positives at the end of the are a result of unmasked social behavior over Halloween weekend.  We will continue to watch this trend as we anticipate that even larger numbers may be coming.

This is a wake-up call.  Your behavior this weekend will impact your health for the next two weeks and could impact the ability of you and your close contacts to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  Please take this seriously.  We are less than seven days away from sheltering-in-place, so we need everyone to be on their best behavior now. We need to reduce the risk of people infecting their pod or household just before break.

Please limit your close contacts if you think you’re sick or may have been exposed to someone who is sick. Go to student health. Wear your face covering in public at all times. Protect each other. It’s critical to protect the health of our families, friends, and communities beyond Pitt.

It is critically important that you think about how you will travel home safely. Because everyone has had a unique experience this term, we will be rolling out a chatbot tool next week to help you shelter-in-place properly, depending on whether you’ve had COVID-19 already, been a close contact of someone who’s tested positive, have vulnerable people in your family, and other important considerations.

We are in the home stretch of an unprecedented term. While we are extremely proud of the Pitt community for its efforts to support and protect each other thus far, we urge you not to let up now. It’s more important than ever.

Sincerely,

COVID-19 Medical Response Office