There have not been any more recorded monkeypox cases on campus since the first case was announced on Sept. 7, according to David Oliver, WKU’s director of environmental health and safety.

Oliver reiterated that all monkeypox cases go through the Barren River Health Department and that the WKU Department of Environmental Health and Safety is only notified if the case is on campus.

Kentucky has recorded 48 monkeypox cases as of Sept. 20.

Reported COVID-19 case numbers have also continued to steadily decline. Oliver said there are approximately 15 current cases. This represents a sharp drop from the 97 cases reported during the first week of the semester.

As of Sept. 19, the current seven-day rolling case average for Warren County is 28 and the county is currently at a low COVID-19 community spread level. The Kentucky seven-day moving average for cases as of Sept. 19 is 1,386.

“We’re looking at the area numbers, they’re trending downward as well from what I can tell, talking to public health,” Oliver said. “I think we’re optimistic at this point, and based on our trends the last two years, we knew we’d have a spike when we came back, everybody coming back together. But it seems to be leveling, and we’ll continue updating the tracker and stay on top of it.”

According to Oliver, no one is currently in quarantine on campus.

“We’ve averaged probably one or two [quarantined students] at a time, and I say that because we haven’t exceeded our limited space,” Oliver said.

Aside from monkeypox and COVID-19 concerns, Oliver encouraged students to be aware of the upcoming flu season.

“Based on what we’re seeing based on our past trends, our hope is that we end up with a mild flu season,” Oliver said. “We know we’re going to have it, seasonal flu, so we encourage folks to get their flu shots.”

For more information about campus health and safety protocols, visit WKU’s Healthy on the Hill website. 

Content editor Alexandria Anderson can be reached at [email protected].