Students required to shelter in place prior to returning to in-person classes

Some students may be able to attend in-person classes before others, Pitt announced in an email to students Monday afternoon.

The University is requiring all students, including those who live off campus, to complete a 14-day shelter-in-place period before attending in-person classes. Students living in University housing in the fall must complete seven of the 14 days immediately before arriving on campus and the other seven days immediately after arriving on campus. Off-campus residents are encouraged to align their shelter-in-place period with their roommate(s) if they plan to complete this period at their shared residence.

Kevin Zwick, a University spokesperson, said Pitt will not track whether or not students have completed their 14-day shelter-in-place period.

“While students are at home, they are on the honor system and we hope they will comply,” he said.

Panther Central will email incoming first-year students on Tuesday to receive and confirm their housing assignments. All students living on campus will receive their assigned move-in date and time later this week. Pitt will begin to allow increments of 1,500 students to move into on-campus housing on Aug. 11, with the latest arrivals on Aug. 31. According to Pitt’s coronavirus response page, students should note that plans may be altered if on-campus conditions are not considered safe for students.

According to the email, Pitt is prepared to test 400 students daily to learn about the prevalence of the virus at the Oakland campus, as well as the branch campuses. The University will also provide daily COVID-19 symptom screenings for students living on campus.

The COVID-19 Medical Response Office will oversee testing and ensure that students who show signs of infection will have access to a test with returned results within 24 hours through UPMC. As well as providing testing, the University has prepared isolation facilities across all five campuses for students who test positive, where they can quarantine for 14 days.

According to Zwick, additional details about the virus monitoring and testing program will be released soon.