The University of Kentucky will now randomly test students for COVID-19
For the remainder of the fall semester the University of Kentucky will be performing random, required testing for COVID-19 among its students, the university announced Friday.
About 400 students will be notified to be tested in the initial round of random screening, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said. They will be tested at the on-campus student testing site located on the lawn between the William T. Young Library and the 90 dining facility and at a new testing site on College Way.
UK has also completed enough wastewater testing to be able to mass re-test students living in dorms where traces of the virus are found in sewage water. Blanton said that testing will begin this weekend, but said he could not disclose which specific dorms will be re-tested.
Wastewater testing — done using a sampling device that tests sewage water coming from a specific building at multiple time intervals — can detect the virus in feces. If a building begins to register the presence of the virus, then health officials can re-test every resident living in the building. Dr. Robert DiPaola, dean of the university’s College of Medicine and the team lead of the university’s START work group, told the Herald-Leader previously that UK began performing wastewater testing nearly two weeks ago on dorms and other on-campus residential facilities like fraternity and sorority houses.
UK will not re-test students who have already tested positive, Blanton said.
UK student virus cases have increased rapidly in recent weeks, according to data from the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department. Since Aug. 3, the department has reported 1,538 student cases. Positive UK student cases make up 22 percent of the county’s cases since March. The local health department only reports UK students who are considered to be Fayette County residents, meaning they must live in Fayette County or choose to quarantine in Fayette County if they live elsewhere.
No students have been hospitalized in Fayette County, health department data shows, but according to the university, 108 students are in on-campus isolation halls as of Tuesday. On-campus COVID-19-positive students can opt to complete their isolation in a specific dorm or back at their respective homes. Off-campus students are asked to isolate in their residences. According to data from the state, the university has 665 active cases as of Tuesday.
The university credited the shift in testing strategy to conversations on Monday with Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator. Earlier this week, student and employee activists hosted an “art protest” on campus partially demanding repeat mandatory testing for students for the remainder of the semester.
“Everything we do is conceived — and implemented — with one goal in mind: keeping you safe,” UK President Eli Capilouto said via a release.
All students who had on-campus classes were tested for the virus within seven days of arriving on campus at the beginning of the semester. Fraternity and sorority students were required to re-test after they registered a higher positivity rate relative to the rest of campus. The university has also already began wastewater testing to locate the presence of the virus in residential facilities. Students can already be voluntarily tested at the site near the 90 dining facility.
This story was originally published September 18, 2020 at 3:15 PM.