State leaders ‘strongly encourage’ Pa. colleges to delay bringing students back to campus

PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Department of Education is “strongly encouraging” colleges and universities in the state to consider delaying bringing students back to campus.

Instead, officials want schools to begin the spring semester online in order to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

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“We are seeing an alarming increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and these trends are expected to worsen in January at the time when students normally return to campus,” said Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega in a release Wednesday. “Colleges and universities play a critical role in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 and creating safe learning environments for students. By delaying students’ return to campus, our institutions of higher learning can help slow the spread of the virus, help businesses to remain open, and protect regional health care systems.”

The education department cited a lack of available hospital beds as reason to delay the next semester in-person, saying college students returning would only add to the strain on hospitals.

Pennsylvania has seen a surge in coronavirus cases over the past month. Daily cases have spiked, while the positivity rate has skyrocketed as well.

According to the Department of Health, the pandemic has “worsened since students returned to campus in the fall with the number of new daily cases approximately 10 times higher than in September.” Officials said the number of cases among people aged 19-24 in northcentral Pa. spiked from 7% in April to 69% in September.

Allegheny Co. Health Department says it could be early summer before general population gets COVID-19 vaccine