A Look at the University of Kentucky’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard


Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Wondering how U.S. colleges and universities are holding up as COVID-19 continues? Let’s take a quick look at the University of Kentucky’s COVID-19 Data Dashboard that was updated on Tuesday 9/29/2020.



The novel coronavirus pandemic took the world by storm this year. COVID-19 and its continuing aftermath continue to be felt throughout the world—and U.S. colleges and universities, as spaces of high contact for a large population of the country, have not been exempt. At the beginning of the year, colleges and universities quickly transitioned to online learning as a response to the swift rising of the pandemic in the U.S. 

As the 2019-2020 academic school year ended and the 2020-2021 year began, colleges and universities decided to run with different modes of operation. Some top colleges have chosen to have campuses open with a limited or restricted capacity, with students returning to campus, while they offer classes in hybrid model that mixes online learning with limited in-person learning. Other universities have chosen not to have any in-person classes and conduct the school year through online learning. Each college and university has made decisions based on numerous factors from the size of its student population to the numbers of COVID-19 cases in each college or university’s home city and state as well as any local and national regulations.

The University of Kentucky’s plan has been to operate its campus with limited capacity while asking its students, staff and faculty to do their part in protecting and respecting each other and the community a series of social/physical distancing and hygienic guidelines.

All students—graduate, undergraduate and professional—who plan to go back to campus must take part testing. Ongoing testing has also been available for all students and employees while members of the university community that physically visit campus have also been required to participate in daily screening

What does the University of Kentucky COVID-19 Data Dashboard reveal?


Current Campus Impact: Students

381 Total Active Cases
UK 7-Day Average: 437

1,531 Total Recovered Cases
UK 7-Day Average: 1,371

38 Newly Reported Cases on September 26
UK 7-Day Average: 30

25,339 physically coming back to campus 
This reflects the number of UK students who are physically coming to campus and, therefore, are required to be tested for COVID-19. Those who are not physically coming to campus are not required to be tested or to participate in the daily screening.

Students Currently in Campus Isolation Facilities

Campus Isolation Facilities
28 – Students living in campus isolation facilities
171 – Campus isolation facility capacity (number of beds)
16% - Current campus isolation occupancy
 

74 STUDENTS IN CAMPUS AND FSL ISOLATION FACILITIES

The remainder of active cases are isolating off campus.
46 – Students in FSL in isolation facilities
FSL facilities with high in-house positivity rates were converted to isolation spaces, at the direction of Health Corps. Students who previously lived in these residences, but who have not tested positive for COVID-19, have moved out and are quarantining in other spaces. 

How does UK define quarantine and isolation?  

Quarantine: Compulsory separation, including restriction of movement, of people who potentially have been exposed to a contagious disease, until it can be determined whether they have become sick or no longer pose a risk to others. This determination could be made, for example, based on the time elapsed from their potential exposure.

Isolation: Separation of people known or suspected (via signs, symptoms or laboratory criteria) to be infected with a contagious disease from those who are not sick to prevent them from transmitting the disease to others.

What data has UK collected to date for its students? 

32,600 total tests conducted as of September 26, 2020


1,443 total positive test results as of September 26, 2020


31,139 total negative results as of September 26, 2020


The student dashboard has not released exact numbers about employees that have been infected with COVID-19 but, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader cited by Inside Higher Ed., UK has had more employees infected with COVID-19 since mid-August than any other workplace in Lexington.  


According to Lilah Burke from Inside Higher Ed., workers at the university have shared that the administration is providing adequate personal protective equipment but it is not comprehensively carrying out other measures that the state has mandated for businesses. 

For example, Kentucky’s Healthy at Work minimums for businesses requires that workplaces check temperatures of employees before work or instruct workers to take their own temperatures within 24 hours before reporting for work duty. Some employees at UK have shared that neither of these things have happened.

“There’s no temperature checks. They don’t tell us to take it at home,” shared Donald Moore, a custodian that has worked for the university for 15 years, with Inside Higher Ed.

Pierre Smith, a university groundskeeper, also shared with Inside Higher Ed, “They just don’t mention it.”

A UK spokesperson has said: “I don’t believe the comparison tells you much -- given our size and the amount of testing, tracing, screening and tracking we are doing compared to anyone else,” a spokesperson for the university said via email. “The University of Kentucky is the region’s largest employer -- by far, and so should be expected to have the largest number of positive cases. Without knowing the telecommuting, social distancing, mask, screening, tracing and testing policies at each of these businesses, it is not possible to make a fair comparison across these employers.”

Local health department data shows that the University of Kentucky has had over 2,000 cases among its students on campus and that its students now account for 25 percent for of Fayette County’s total COVID-19 cases.

The employees union pushed for more from the administration, including hazard pay, affordable health care for staff as well as a pledge to cover health-care costs associated with COVID-19 for on-campus workers.




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