The latest variants of COVID-19, BA.4 and BA.5, are spreading quickly and broadly throughout the country. Jefferson County and much of Kentucky have been placed at a , signaling that our area is experiencing high rates of transmission and hospitalization. The CDC strongly recommends red level areas to mask indoors.  

We have been closely monitoring this situation over the last few weeks and we are frequently meeting to discuss the latest information. At this time, there is no change to our policies, but we strongly encourage all Cardinals to mask indoors for the duration of this surge.

This is a fluid situation. Next week, we’ll send out another update and provide information on where you can pick up a free KN95 mask on campus soon.  

As a Community of Care, it is important that we all act with extra vigilance during this time and follow the seven  to the best of our ability. If you have questions or concerns, reach out to a member of the . We’ve met every challenge the pandemic has posed to our university community thus far, and — together— we will continue to meet these challenges.

Starting March 14, 2022, masking will only be required in classrooms and clinical areas. In all other areas, masks will be optional.

Here are additional things to note about the mask requirement modification:

• Masks are still required when riding campus shuttles due to TARC’s continued mask requirement.
• Units that operate patient care activities may determine how to make their policies consistent with health agency recommendations.
• The university still encourages individuals with health concerns to consider wearing masks while indoors. 
• The university will continue to monitor CDC guidance and may have to make more changes to masking or take other measures if circumstances change. 

Beginning April 1, 2022, the university will also no longer require testing of unvaccinated individuals as asymptomatic testing has now shown to have little to no effect on the spread of COVID-19. If you feel ill, stay home and .

As we relax some of these requirements that have been in place since the start of the pandemic, please keep in mind that this may be a difficult transition for some. Please be thoughtful and considerate with each other as we make this transition.

UofL researchers already are testing wastewater to determine whether coronavirus infection exists in different neighborhoods around Jefferson County. This new work goes one step further, with the goal of estimating how many people within those neighborhoods are infected. If virus levels are high in the wastewater, it may be a signal of widespread infection in the community.

“This could revolutionize the way we track and contain pandemics, and not just COVID-19,” said Aruni Bhatnagar, professor of medicine. “It gives us an invaluable tool that could offer a clearer view of where and how the virus spreads.”

Researchers at UofL’s , where Bhatnagar is director, began testing wastewater last year as part of the Co-Immunity Project, a groundbreaking partnership with the to track COVID-19 in Metro Louisville.

As part of that effort, the from 12 sites representing multiple neighborhoods and five water quality treatment centers that aggregate the entire county to the UofL Center for Predictive Medicine for virus analysis.

In this new work, MSD and other community partners will continue collecting wastewater samples over the next six months. After analysis, UofL will also send the results to the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System, which will help inform efforts across the U.S.

As with previous rounds of COVID-19 testing conducted through the Co-Immunity Project, researchers will recruit participants by sending letters to selected households across Jefferson County. They hope to continue to enroll a few thousand people every month and will compare their COVID-19 infection and antibody results with wastewater samples from the same area, with the goal of finding how they correlate.

“The aim of the project is to figure out whether we can estimate how many people in a given area are infected by simply testing the community wastewater,” said Ted Smith, associate professor of medicine and a lead on the wastewater epidemiology project. “Additionally, this is a passive and comparatively low-cost way to monitor community infection and has the additional benefit of being inclusive of all communities in our city and is a promising step to ensuring public health equity.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Co-Immunity Project has conducted ongoing testing and surveys to better understand the spread of the coronavirus and COVID-19. In the past year, UofL researchers have tested more than 12,000 people for COVID-19 infection and antibodies, beginning with frontline health care workers. They also have worked to gauge how local citizens feel about COVID-19 vaccines, with in a recent poll saying they would like to be vaccinated.

“This is critically important work in our fight against COVID-19,” said Kevin Gardner, UofL’s executive vice president for research and innovation. “Our hope is that by working with the CDC, we can develop these new, more efficient tools for tracking pandemics and take a big step in advancing health for all of our community.”

Last year, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), then-Senate majority leader, negotiated and championed five historic and completely bipartisan COVID-19 rescue packages. In addition to supporting workers and propping up the economy, these relief bills also allocated for COVID-19 testing. McConnell personally called then-U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to request that the CDC direct a portion of that funding to UofL’s Co-Immunity Project.

“Our country has responded to this terrible pandemic with innovation and discovery and Kentucky continues to play a major role in beating this virus. I’d like to congratulate Dr. Bhatnagar and UofL’s entire Co-Immunity Project on their groundbreaking study,” McConnell said in a statement. “After hearing about their work, I took this project to the highest levels of the federal government to help accelerate their research with additional federal funding. As UPS and other Louisville employers are sending safe and effective vaccinations around the country, I’m proud top researchers right here at UofL are pushing the boundaries of knowledge in detection and prevention.”

The center is located in the UofL Physicians Outpatient Center, 401 E. Chestnut St., and serves as the clinical arm of the UofL Diabetes and Obesity Center headed by Aruni Bhatnagar, PhD, which focuses on research into prevention of diabetes.

“It is immensely gratifying to see the science of diabetes prevention being implemented to improve the public’s health,” Bhatnagar said. “It is through programs such as this that we will turn the tide in the fight against the epidemic of type 2 diabetes.”

In addition to the CDC recognition, the UofL Physicians Diabetes and Obesity Center, in a partnership with ULP Department of Medicine, is recognized by the American Diabetes Association for Quality Diabetes Self-Management ����ֱ�� and Support.

The ULP Diabetes and Obesity Center was created in part from support by KentuckyOne Health to provide preventive care and education and to promote research in diabetes and obesity. The Center is directed by Sri Prakash Mokshagundam, MD.

“Once you have diabetes, you can’t get rid of it, but if you have prediabetes, which is higher than normal blood sugar levels, or if you are at risk for developing diabetes, you can prevent it with lifestyle changes,” Mokshagundam said. “Diabetes also can be effectively managed with physician-directed care.

“We want people to know they have the power to change their outcome.”

The program is directed by Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator Beth Ackerman, who cited UofL’s own employee wellness program, Get Healthy Now, in earning the recognition.

“This recognition was made possible through collaboration with UofL Get Healthy Now and its director, Patricia Benson, assistant vice president for health, wellness and disease management,” Ackerman said. “We currently offer the program to UofL employees who are covered by the university’s health plan, and will begin offering it to other patients in January.”

The UofL Physicians Diabetes and Obesity Center works to:

• Elevate the health status of our community by raising awareness of the risks for diabetes and heart disease;
• Facilitate prevention and management programs;
• Be a resource to our patients and community health care providers; and 
• Support researchers in their efforts to fight the growing epidemic of diabetes and obesity.

The Diabetes and Obesity Center at UofL Physicians offers diabetes self-management education and support if a patient is newly diagnosed or has had diabetes for many years. The center’s diabetes educators assess each patient’s needs and help them individually or to enroll in an education class to meet those needs. Classes cover:

• Diabetes Prevention
• Diabetes Self-Management 
• Pregnancy Planning
• Diabetes Medications
• Diabetes and Technology
• Medical Nutrition Therapy
• Weight Management
• Monitored Activity Options

More than 84 million Americans – one in three adults – now have prediabetes. Of those 84 million, nine out of 10 of them don’t know they have it. Without intervention, many people with prediabetes could develop type 2 diabetes within five years.

In Kentucky, diabetes and prediabetes are at epidemic levels, according to the American Diabetes Association. More than 531,000 people in Kentucky, or 14.5 percent of the adult population, have diabetes. Of these, an estimated 108,000 have diabetes but don’t know it, greatly increasing their health risk. In addition, 1.168 million people in Kentucky – 35.5 percent of the adult population – have prediabetes with blood glucose levels higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Every year an estimated 27,000 people in Kentucky are diagnosed with diabetes.

SPHIS received a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2015 to , led by Monica Wendel, DrPH, MA, associate dean for public health practice.

Through this center,  were hired to help create and test the media/social media campaign aimed at reducing violence by opposing the perception that violence is normal, accepted and expected, particularly among African American youth. The campaign aims to combat violence by making youth aware of their own pride and history. It also seeks to foster community dialogue around difficult issues such as racial and social injustices. In doing so, the YVPRC hopes to raise critical consciousness in an effort to promote racial justice and reduce youth violence.

The media campaign features the youth fellows in YouTube videos, television commercials, radio ads, neighborhood billboards, bus shelters, print ads, , and social media platforms using #YVPRC. This particular media effort concludes at the end of December 2017; the overall  campaign continues through spring 2020.

from the campaign kick-off held at the Louisville Central Community Centers on Saturday, May 20.