As Phase II testing begins, UK positive numbers remain low

UPDATE POSTED 6 P.M. SUNDAY, AUG. 23, 2020

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The number of University of Kentucky students testing positive for the coronavirus ad the number being tested as part of the university’s campus-wide testing program continued to decline late last week.

That comes as the last day of the first phase of testing ended Saturday and the second phase begins Monday, focusing on fraternities and sororities where concentrations of the virus have shown up.

As of Sunday afternoon’s latest report, 248 students had tested positive, up 10 from Friday’s report. A total of 22,190 students have bee tested, up from 21,716 in Friday’s report.

The positivity rate remained at 1.1 percent. Sunday’s report covered testing through Aug. 20.

See the story below for information o the second round of testing that begins Monday.

ORIGINAL STORY, POSTED 3 P.M. FRIDAY, AUG. 21, 2020

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The number of University of Kentucky students testing positive for the coronavirus appeared to have hit a record but revised numbers released Friday afternoon corrected the streak.

The numbers come as UK prepares for phase II of its testing plan which is attracting attention nationwide as a model for what other colleges might consider. Phase II will focus largely on fraternity ad sorority members, among others, who have had a higher positivity rate.

Two houses particularly have led the positives, the university said.

As of Aug. 18, 238 students had tested positive, up 13 from 225 students who had tested positive as of Aug. 17. Originally UK posted 338 students testing positive.

The university reported testing 21,716 students through Aug. 18, up 1,144 students from the numbers released the previous day.

The positivity rate was 1.1 percent, down from 1.2% earlier.

Testing continues through Aug. 22.

The university is not considering any new measures because the positivity rate remains low.

“Nothing new to report at this time … positivity rate has remained at about 1 percent,” spokesperson Jay Blanton told WTVQ Friday.

The university announced Friday afternoon it will re-test for COVID-19 5,500 students who participate in UK Fraternity and Sorority Life, as part of its planned Phase II of on-campus testing.

The re-testing protocol represents the start of Phase II of UK’s testing plan under its Restart Playbook that has guided the university’s reopening plans for the fall semester.

This next phase focuses on students in FSL because of higher positivity rates among these students, as compared to the general student population.

Specifically, students in FSL organizations currently have a positivity rate of approximately 3%, compared to the general student population’s positivity rate of approximately 1%.

Both rates are lower than the Commonwealth’s positivity rate.

Moreover, of the 49 students in isolation after testing positive for the virus, a majority — 30 — reside in two fraternity houses on campus. Those fraternities will continue to isolate in their respective houses.

Over the last two weeks, UK has conducted mandatory testing among all students who come on campus. More than 21,000 students were tested as of Aug. 17.

UK also has conducted voluntary testing among employees. Some 600 employees have tested thus far, and fewer than five have tested positive.

UK will initiate a community testing program on Aug. 24.

UK’s START team, comprised of health professionals and public health experts, recommended mandatory testing for students and outlined plans for follow-up testing that would be dictated by data collected over time.

“It’s important that we address this issue of students in our fraternities and sororities quickly, thoughtfully and with care,” said UK President Eli Capilouto. “Our preparation and planning thus far have enabled us to understand issues as they arise and have given us the capacity to address them. That’s what we are doing in Phase II of our plan.”

Details of the retesting plan include:

• Beginning Sunday, the mandatory re-testing program for students in FSL will begin. The existing testing site near The 90 and William T. Young Library will offer four walk-up testing lanes.
• Testing on Sunday will take place from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Testing Monday, Aug. 24, through Sunday, Aug. 30, will take place in the same location from 8 a.m. to noon.
• After testing all students in FSL, the university will begin testing other student groups, guided by analysis of baseline data. Officials will release details of that plan later.
• UK will continue to utilize Wild Health, the private Lexington-based company that has conducted student and employee testing thus far.

Capilouto stressed the move to re-test students in FSL is not a move to blame students.

Rather, he said, a combination of factors likely contributed to the higher positivity rates, and it was simply important for UK to move quickly to address the challenge; that capacity was made possible by the institution’s comprehensive planning process.

“We are able to move with speed and precision because of our preparation and planning. We began the semester with a plan to gather the necessary data to inform our interventions — by mandating testing for all students as they arrived on campus,” Capilouto said. “That testing regimen — recommended in our restart playbook and by a team of health professionals and public health experts — created a baseline of data that’s now enabling us to quickly detect and respond to trends.”

Capilouto said it was important to reinforce the factors university officials are using to monitor the health and well-being of the campus, which include:

• Supply of PPE.
• The number of critical care beds in UK HealthCare to serve both campus and community.
• Positivity rates.
• The capacity for daily screening and ongoing contact tracing.
• The capacity for isolation and quarantining.
• The ability to provide residential experience on our campus.
• Guidance from local, state and federal health and public policy officials.

“We remain in a good place on each of those measures, although it is critical that we undertake retesting now,” Capilouto said. “As we move forward with this process, we will report these numbers along with our continued plans for how we will do what it takes to keep our campus community healthy and safe.”

The state is working on an overall reporting system for every college and university in the state to make at least some kind of information available. Most colleges and universities don’t have testing in place like UK, but they do track cases through health agencies.

The daily test results are released by UK as it works to control the spread of the virus and establishes a baseline of student and staff infections.