Additional information for undergraduates: Updated Guidance for the Start of the Spring Semester

Dear students,

Please be sure to carefully read the University’s most recent update on Spring semester reopening. It includes updated guidance that reflects the CDC’s new isolation protocols, and provides information around what to do if you cannot schedule a PCR test during the 48-hour period in advance of your arrival in Durham.

We know there are shortages in PCR testing availability in some areas. If you are in a location where you can arrange for a test during the 48-hour period in advance of your arrival in Durham, please still do so. If you cannot schedule a PCR test, you can instead sequester through two rounds of entry/surveillance testing. The attestation for undergraduates, which you will receive via email tomorrow, will ask you to confirm that you had a PCR test before returning to Durham and will follow sequester guidance after your re-entry test, OR that you you agree to sequester until you have had a re-entry test at Duke and a second surveillance test administered 48 hours later.

Here are a few additional points to consider as you plan your return to campus:

• We continue to plan to have three days of virtual instruction Wednesday-Friday, January 5-7th.
• Residence halls will open at noon on January 2 , and entry testing will now be available starting Sunday, January 2nd from 4:00-8:00 PM in the Bryan CenterWe have expanded entry testing for students who want to delay their return to Durham to the weekend of January 8-9.
• Surveillance/entry testing will be available Saturday, January 8th and Sunday January 9th from 1pm to 5pm at several on campus locations. Updated information will be available at the Duke United page.
• As a reminder, sequestering means you will stay in your on-campus housing or off-campus residence until you complete re-entry protocols listed above. Please plan ahead for this. During a sequester, you can leave your apartment to exercise, get food, or attend to other essential health and safety activities, but the objective is that you limit in-person contact until it’s determined that you’re not contagious and spreading COVID to others (and others to you). Doing this helps the Duke community manage the influx of arriving students and mitigate any transmission associated with a return to operations. Our university systems—health providers, testing processes and others—need your cooperation here.
• Off campus undergraduates should test on Tuesday, January 4 if they are in Durham by that date. If not, they should test on the date they return to Durham. If sites are closed at that time, they should test the following day.

We know that Omicron has upended many plans, and we know that the Duke community can once again come together to respond to this moment to ensure a pathway towards an in-person university experience this spring. Thank you for doing your part.

Sincerely,

Duke Student Affairs