Healthy Restart FAQs Answered Sept. 3 for UK Faculty, Staff and Students

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 3, 2020) — With University of Kentucky now offering in-session classes again, the university continues to field questions related to specific elements of the campus restart plan. Listed below are answers to some of the questions most commonly asked by university faculty and staff.

Q: I am concerned about performing my normal work duties as I am immunocompromised. Who can I talk with about options to address these concerns?

A: If you have an immunocompromised system or an underlying medical condition and are seeking accommodations due to concerns about possible exposure to COVID-19, you may contact the Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity at 859-257-8927 for additional information. You will need to fill out the ADA Accommodation Form and your provider will fill out the Medical Inquiry Form and return to the Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity. You may also find the forms at www.uky.edu/eeo/ada-compliance. Possible accommodations could be working from home or relocation to an area in which exposure risk is reduced. You should also talk with your health care provider for advice on any additional recommended precautions.

If you are a UK HealthCare employee, the isolation period will not count as an occurrence under UKHC’s Attendance Policy.

You may view control and prevention guidelines from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration at www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/controlprevention.html.

You should also talk with your health care provider for advice on any additional recommended precautions.

Q: How can I prepare to work remotely, if needed?

A: Employees and teams who can effectively work remotely can make sure they are prepared to do so. This may include confirming you can access voicemail, email, Zoom and other systems away from your normal work location. Employees who will need to remotely connect to their desktop workstations or UK-hosted servers will need to request Virtual Private Network (VPN) access prior to working remotely. 

Phase I and II testing of students by Wild Health ended Aug. 30. As of Sept. 2, UK is reporting 435 current active cases and 288 recovered cases among students. As of Aug. 30, 26,415 tests have been conducted with students, including 575 positive tests and 25,830 negative tests. For information on testing results, visit: www.uky.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-data-dashboard.

For more information related to University of Kentucky's COVID-19 response and restart plan, visit www.uky.edu/coronavirus/, including more FAQs at www.uky.edu/coronavirus/employees/employee-faqs.

Each day UK will be providing some of the most frequently asked questions from students, faculty and staff and answering them as we start the new semester. If you have questions you would like to see answered, please email coronavirus@uky.edu. We will continue to answer those on an individual basis, but may also include them in UKNOW. Thanks and stay safe and healthy.