Required Random Testing for UK Students September 18, 2020

Dear Campus Community,

We continue to use science and data to drive our decisions around keeping our community safe and healthy.

Against that backdrop, today we are announcing additional steps, informed by data, our own public health and science experts and the productive dialogue we had earlier this week with Dr. Deborah Birx, the national coronavirus response coordinator. 

Dr. Birx lauded our comprehensive and thoughtful efforts to date, and she discussed with our team additional best practices that we can add to our protocols as we follow the insights that data provide us. Here are details of our next steps:

• Starting this weekend, we will begin to conduct required random COVID-19 testing among our student population that is physically coming to campus, as recommended by our START team.  
• Students will receive email notifications from UK Health Corps, informing them that they have been randomly selected to receive a required COVID-19 test.
• These tests will be administered at no cost to students, through our existing student testing site at The 90 and at the new student testing lane at the community site at College Way. 
• This random testing will take place throughout the remainder of the semester. 

Guided by recommendations from federal experts, as well as our START team of world-class clinicians and specialists, we believe this initiative will continue to make our campus a safer place to fulfill our crucial missions of teaching, education, service and care. The data we will gather through this process will further inform our decisions. 

This initiative bolsters and complements our existing, ongoing efforts designed to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, which include: 

• Recent steps to test wastewater from our residence halls. Data collected through this method can reveal the virus’ presence in a given facility. This new initiative is informing our efforts, which will begin this weekend, to require retesting among students who live in residence halls, as directed by the data emerging from this innovative detection method. 
• Expansion of optional retesting, at no cost, for any student who wishes to receive a test. Students can sign up at any time for an appointment at the testing site near the 90 here.
• Implementation of COVID-19 testing for employees, at no cost, through our community testing sites at College Way and Eastern State Hospital. Employees can sign up for an appointment here.

Keep updated on our efforts to keep you safe at www.uky.edu/coronavirus. Everything we do is conceived – and implemented – with one goal in mind: keeping you safe. 

As always, remember your daily 4.0: Wash your hands, wear a face covering, maintain six feet of physical distance and complete your daily screening.  We do this to keep each other healthy and safe. It is how we respect and protect each other. Thank you for doing your part.