15 Students and 15 Faculty/Staff At Duke Test Positive for COVID, March 29-April 4

Duke University’s comprehensive COVID-19 testing and contact tracing program administered 18,972 tests to 9,417 students and 2,299 tests to 1,177 faculty/staff for the period March 29-April 4, 2021, with a total of 30 positive results. The total positivity rate was 0.14 percent.

Over the past three weeks, the number of positive tests among Duke students has declined from a high of 218 (for the week ending March 14) to 15 in the past week.  In addition, all Duke students, faculty and staff have now been offered the opportunity to get the COVD-19 vaccine.

Summary of results from this period:

• 18,884 surveillance tests were administered to asymptomatic undergraduate and graduate students who are living on and off campus with three positive results
• 88 tests were administered to students who reported symptoms or were identified through contact tracing with 12 positive results
• 2,167 surveillance tests were administered to asymptomatic faculty/staff who are working on campus this semester and are voluntarily participating in the testing program with no positive results
• 132 tests were administered to faculty/staff who reported symptoms or were identified through contact tracing with 15 positive results
• 13 of the 15 new positive cases among staff are connected to the East Campus Union Marketplace Dining Facility
• All individuals who test positive are required to observe an isolation period until they are cleared to return to normal activities; contact tracing is underway to identify those who may have been exposed and ask them to quarantine
• 28 students who had been in isolation and 83 who had been in precautionary quarantine were cleared to return to normal activities

Notes:

• Positive cases were identified through surveillance testing for asymptomatic students as well as tests for those exhibiting symptoms. The individuals who tested positive have been placed in isolation, while those identified as potential contacts have been placed in precautionary quarantine.
• All students who are placed in precautionary quarantine or isolation are monitored by Duke Student Health and have the ability to continue their coursework remotely
• Duke has more than 300 individual beds for students who live in Duke-provided housing and are identified for isolation or quarantine
• Students who live in Duke-provided housing will be isolated or quarantined in campus facilities; students who live off campus must isolate or quarantine in their residence.
• Tests administered to student-athletes are included in these results

Types of tests administered in this period:

1. Surveillance testing for asymptomatic students (on and off campus) and faculty/staff
2. Clinical testing for individuals who report symptoms or who are identified through contact tracing

More information on Duke’s COVID-19 testing program can be found at https://coronavirus.duke.edu/covid-testing/. Results are updated every Tuesday morning.