UK has launched an updated COVID-19 dashboard that shares the results of UK’s testing through Phase II, over a week after Phase II began and 10 days since the existing dashboard was last updated. 

The dashboard reports 435 active cases and 288 recoveries and says that the positivity rate remains below 2 percent. According to the dashboard, the positivity rate is “based on active cases and daily attestation numbers.”

UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said “the vast majority” of recoveries have occurred since Aug. 3.

“This dashboard reflects that there really isn’t much discrepancy between what we are tracking and what the county is tracking, since August, which is when the campus returned to operations. What is different is we are more specifically labeling the current status of those who have contracted the virus and those who have since recovered,” Blanton said.

The previous dashboard showed results through Aug. 22, the last day of testing for Phase I (the mandatory testing for all students returning to campus).

Phase II began on Sunday, Aug. 23, with retesting of 5,500 members of Greek life. According to a UK press release, Greek life was selected for retesting because those students had a higher positivity rate during initial testing; 3 percent compared to 1 percent for the student body overall.

The new dashboard shows an increase of 469 cases since the last time the dashboard was updated on Aug. 22, for a total of 723 cases reported by UK.

Blanton said that the 469 case difference between the dashboard updates can not be attributed solely to Greek life because it includes data from a variety of sources. While the first dashboard only included results from UK’s testing service, the new dashboard combines tests conducted by UK and Wild Health with off-campus testing services and self-reported cases from contact tracing.

“The second dashboard reflects test results from all of the sources above, dating back to July,” Blanton said. “So, the difference between the two numbers (which reflect both different sources and different timeframes) would not give you the number of tests UK Health Corps received in the past 10-day period.”

The dashboard says that 25 students are in isolation in in fraternity/sorority houses. The dashboard does not say how many houses have been converted to isolation spaces, but that “FSL facilities with high in-house positivity rates were converted to isolation spaces” and facility residents who had not tested positive for COVID-19 moved out and are in quarantine elsewhere.

Kernel reporters knocked on the door of nine fraternity houses and received a response at three. One fraternity house confirmed that the house had not been instructed to isolate. Two houses declined to comment.  

In an email announcement about the new dashboard, President Eli Capilouto said the numbers would be updated daily.

“We have promised throughout this semester to let robust data and health expertise drive our community’s response to the coronavirus,” Capilouto wrote. “And we promised to keep you informed at each important step in our path together.”

The dashboard does not show the number of staff who have tested positive. Blanton said that around 1,000 UK employees have been tested and fewer than five tested positive.

“if and when those numbers change in a substantive way, we will include those as well in our reporting,” Blanton said.

The dashboard does not report the number of students who have been told to quarantine because of potential exposure. Blanton said this was because active cases numbers and recoveries are the most important for how the campus is managing the virus.

“The quarantine numbers – some of those are on campus and some are not – doesn’t reflect the numbers who have contracted the virus. It reflects those who may have been exposed and the level of exposure could and does greatly vary. While important because it reflects students who are taking appropriate precautions, it doesn’t speak to the health of the campus or any capacity issues we are addressing in supporting our students,” Blanton said.

Currently, the dashboard shows that 78 students are in isolation on campus, 53 of them in university-provided spaces and the rest in FSL facilities. The dashboard reports that isolation capacity is at 31 percent.