Announcements

Thank you to all of you who have followed our guidance regarding remote work and engaging in good and healthy practices both in and out of the Penn environment. We are writing today to clarify Penn’s guidance in the context of the recent announcements from federal, state and city officials.

I am writing to share that three Penn undergraduate students have tested positive for COVID-19. Two students are home, away from campus. One was on campus and tested by Penn Medicine. Upon release from the hospital, that student will be quarantined and cared for in an undisclosed campus location following public health protocols.  Protecting the anonymity of these students is of utmost importance. Please respect your classmates’ privacy and think about how you would want others to act if you were contending with COVID-19. 

To protect the health of our graduates, Penn is cancelling this year’s on-campus Commencement events and moving them to a virtual ceremony online.

In the face of the urgent public health crisis caused by COVID-19, the University of Pennsylvania is instituting new measures to protect the health and safety of our community, as well as to maintain the capability of our health system. All researchers should immediately prepare to discontinue all nonessential on-campus research activities on or before March 17. Our research efforts to combat COVID-19 will continue, and they represent an example of the very limited essential research that should continue.

Penn’s insurance carriers, Independence (Blue Cross), Aetna, CVS Caremark, Keystone (IBC), and Penn Medicine’s Connected Health Virtual Care Telemedicine Practice are all closely monitoring the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus) situation. They are committed to making sure that our participants can receive appropriate testing and treatment for this virus if needed.

I recently informed Penn undergraduate, graduate, and professional students that three of our undergraduate students have tested positive for COVID-19. All had traveled internationally during Spring Break and were very forthcoming about details of their itinerary, allowing us to conduct a thorough contact investigation.  The COVID-19 outbreak is unprecedented and is impacting all of our lives—both on and off campus. I want to again assure you that the University remains committed to the health and safety of its campus during these challenging times. 

Our highest priority is the overall well-being of the Penn community. The COVID 19 virus has created an extraordinary public health situation requiring unprecedented measures to reduce transmission and maintain a safe campus and workplace for faculty, students, staff, patients and visitors.

Our world is now confronted with a rapidly changing and unprecedented global emergency. This is not the experience that anyone wanted for this semester, and our hearts go out to all of you at this difficult moment. We are also enormously grateful to every member of the Penn community for your partnership and your patience. We are all in this together, and we cannot do it without you.

The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, presents our world, country and University with a unique public health challenge that is all the more disquieting because of the uncertainties associated with its spread. We write today with the latest update on the additional steps we at Penn will take in dealing with this unprecedented challenge, guided by current data and expert advice. We will continue to communicate with you and update our plans as new data and evidence emerges. Our primary goals, as always, are carrying out our educational, research and clinical care missions while ensur

We are writing to keep you updated on new developments in our response to the global outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). While there is a high level of uncertainty as the disease spreads around our country and the world, it is absolutely clear that we, along with all other universities, have a responsibility to institute new mitigation practices of social distancing to help stem that spread. These mitigation practices must prudently limit travel as well as gatherings of large groups and occasions involving extended amounts of time in close proximity.