LEXINGTON, Ky. — A study done at the University of Kentucky shows evidence that students who come into contact with COVID-19 can reduce their quarantine time in half.

Jill Kolesar, a pharmacy professor at the University of Kentucky conducted the study after learning less than 15% of people actually stay home the full time during their CDC-recommended 14-day quarantine.

“College is all about interacting with your peers, making your lifelong friends, going to classes and again interacting with your professors and so hopefully we've had at least increased the amount of time they can do that by 50%, you know if they should be exposed to COVID,” Kolesar said.

As of right now, the study only shows research done with people who are between the ages of 18-44.

As part of the study, 101 students were put in 14-day quarantine. 90 asymptomatic participants underwent surveys and additional testing on days 3 or 4, 5, 7,10 and 14.

Kolesar says 14 of those students had at least one positive test while in quarantine.

“Anybody who was negative on day seven remained negative out to day 14. And so for that reason we think that we can reduce the duration of quarantine among college students from 14 days down to seven, as long as they have a negative test,” Kolesar said.

Although Kolesar and her team believe if the students are asymptomatic and test negative early they should be able to have a shorter quarantine period, the CDC is still recommending that anyone who has been exposed to COVID-19 should still quarantine for the full 14 days.

For more information about the research, the study is now available on preprint server MedRxiv, waiting for journal review.