LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Christian Academy in suburban Louisville is fighting COVID-19 unlike any other school in the Commonwealth. 


What You Need To Know

  • Kentucky school first in country to use ultravolet coils to fight COVID-19

  • Christian Academy in Louisville installed a new HVAC system

  • Technology was developed for hospitals

  • Retrofitting the school's system took less than a week

“We’ve made our buildings safer and healthier for our students and for our staff,” Superintendent Darin Long said Wednesday. 

Two of the Christian Academy campuses have installed ultraviolet technology in their existing HVAC systems which according to purGenix can emanate 94% of the COVID-19 virus. 

“It’s not just breathing it in and getting it, it’s coming down on the surfaces. Every air supply...envision it like a shower of germs,” purGenix CEO Sam Perkins explains. Perkins says before those airborne germs and viruses come cascading down they are killed by an ultraviolet energy field designed by his Lexington company.

According to Perkins retro-fitting Christian Academy with the UV coils took less than a week. 

“We are the first layer of protection that blocks the recirculation, the transportation of germs in the building.” 

The technology was originally designed for hospital settings and while higher-ed institutions like the University of Kentucky have installed a PurGenix system, Christian Academy is its first K-12 customer in the entire country. 

“If you will, this building is now part of their infection prevention team.”

1,600 students attend the English Station campus and since the state began recording COVID-19 cases this school has only reported 12 cases.