Students Required to Report Positive COVID-19 Results

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 1, 2020) — In an email to the University of Kentucky community yesterday, UK President Eli Capilouto announced an addition to COVID-19 guidelines that are in place to help ensure the safety and well-being of the university's students, staff and faculty.  The full message is below.

Dear Campus Community,

As we continue to seek ways to provide our students a residential experience this fall, ensuring the health and safety of our students, faculty and staff remains our top priority.

Therefore, effective immediately, the UK COVID-19 Guidelines applicable to students state that students who test positive for COVID-19 through an off-campus test are required to communicate their results to UK Health Corps at healthcorps@uky.edu.

Community members also should note the following:

• This requirement applies irrespective of the type of test conducted, whether involving an antigen (rapid) test or a molecular (PCR) test.

• Notification of a positive result must also include official documentation. If students have tested positive off campus and have not yet received documentation, they are still required to notify Health Corps immediately at healthcorps@uky.edu.

• This requirement applies to students living both on and off campus, as long as they plan to be physically present on campus at any time throughout the semester.

The Code of Student Conduct was recently updated to include the following Standard of Conduct — Failure to Follow UK COVID-19 Health and Safety Guidelines:

• A student or registered student organization (RSO) may face discipline under the Code of Student Conduct for failing to follow the health and safety guidelines related to COVID-19 announced by the University.

• These guidelines are based upon guidance from the CDC and input from UK’s START team. As knowledge related to COVID-19 evolves, guidelines may change over time. Up-to-date information related to the guidelines can be found utilizing the following links:
  • UK COVID-19 General - https://www.uky.edu/coronavirus/
  • UK COVID-19 Students - https://www.uky.edu/coronavirus/students
  • UK RSO/Events - https://www.uky.edu/coronavirus/campus/university-events

Students who do not comply with this new guideline requiring students to report off-campus positive tests may be subject to discipline as outlined by the Office of Student Conduct.

This measure is one step of many we’re taking to keep you and your peers safe.

We are grateful for everything you’re doing to keep the community healthy.

The health and well-being of our community is a shared responsibility, and that means we must work together — building upon the good decisions you already are making — to make it to the end of this semester.

Thank you for doing your part to keep our campus safe.

Eli Capilouto