COVID-19 research project finds low rates of infection among U of L health workers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An ongoing effort to track the spread of the coronavirus among Louisville health care workers and area residents announced its first findings Friday.

After testing nearly 1,400 health care workers throughout the University of Louisville Health system, only two tested positive for COVID-19, researchers with the Co-Immunity Project said in a news conference.

Another 14 workers, who included physicians, nurses, nursing assistants and other employees, tested positive for antibodies, indicating they had been exposed to the virus.

U of L researchers involved in the project said the rate of infection among staff at its hospitals and outpatient clinics from samples collected in May was surprisingly low, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Samples were collected from volunteers who work at U of L Health.

"We have managed to contain the spread of infection to a low level," said Aruni Bhatnagar, professor and director of U of L's Christina Lee Brown Envirome Institute.

The group plans to release results of tests of workers with Baptist Health and Norton Healthcare at a later date.

More:Could the key to tracking the spread of COVID-19 be in Louisville's sewage?

Meanwhile, efforts to survey local residents are underway. That's an effort to collect samples from 2,400 volunteers representing a variety of people throughout the community to determine whether they are infected or have been exposed to COVID-19.

And researchers will repeat testing periodically at least through December of health workers and community residents to get a sense of how and where the virus is spreading, they said.

"We're just trying to understand where and at what places people are likely to be infected," Bhatnagar said.

Read this:U of L Health creates nursing scholarship in memory of Breonna Taylor

Researchers said that identifying people with antibodies to the virus, meaning they have developed some immunity, may assist in locating potential donors of plasma as a treatment for high-risk COVID patients.

Dr. Jon Klein, U of L vice-dean for research at the medical school, said he was among the health system's staff who  provided samples for the project and believes the results will provide important information for public health officials tracking the disease.

"Over time, we'll have a series of snapshots and what the trends are," he said.

More information about the project is available on the website co-immunityproject.com.

Reach Deborah Yetter at dyetter@courier-journal.com or 502-582-4228. Find her on Twitter at @d_yetter. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/subscribe.