After University of Kansas tested everyone for COVID-19, here’s what it will do next
After completing entry testing of students, staff and faculty this week, the University of Kansas will employ random and targeted testing to monitor the spread of COVID-19 on campus.
Chancellor Douglas Girod announced the plans in a message on Wednesday.
After testing every student, staff and faculty member in recent weeks, the university plans to conduct about 525 tests each week moving forward. The testing will be conducted by Watkins Health Services.
About 350 of those tests will be administered to random members of the KU community to determine the prevalence of the virus on campus. Individuals chosen for that testing will receive emails and be encouraged to obtain a test from the university.
Other tests, the message said, will be given to individuals who have symptoms of the coronavirus or who came in close contact with confirmed cases. Close contact means a person has been within six feet of a person who tested positive for 10 minutes or more.
All close contacts of positive cases will be required to quarantine, the message said. Testing will be available for those individuals seven days after their exposure.
So far, 22,563 tests have been administered by the university with 546 coming back positive.
Testing conducted later in August, the message said, resulted in a higher positivity rate than the testing conducted earlier in the month. Targeted testing at fraternities and sororities, the message said, had an 8.38% positivity rate and 332 positive cases.
Continued test results, the message said, will inform the university’s decisions moving forward.
