Information and statements provided to media related to the Stay-in-Place order for undergraduate students will be listed here.
Update on Duke’s Stay-In-Place Order (March 14)
Stay In Place for Duke Undergraduates (March 13)
Category: Community Messages Page 5 of 19
The Learning Innovation team has published directions for faculty so they can immediately transition their courses for online-only instruction during the Stay-at-Home period.
The full post can be found here: https://flexteaching.li.duke.edu/what-you-need-to-do-right-now/
This message is being sent to all Duke undergraduate students.
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Dear students,
Effective at midnight, Saturday, March 13, all Duke undergraduate students are required to stay-in-place until 9 a.m., Sunday, March 21. This message supersedes all previous messages.
This action is necessary to contain the rapidly escalating number of COVID cases among Duke undergraduates, which is principally driven by students attending recruitment parties for selective living groups. Over the past week more than 180 students are in isolation for a positive COVID 19 test, and an additional 200 students are in quarantine as a result of contact tracing. This is by far the largest one-week number of positive tests and quarantines since the start of the pandemic.
We will continue to monitor the situation and will share an update on Thursday, March 18.
WHAT THIS MEANS
The goal of the stay-in-place period is to stop the spread of COVID among the undergraduate population as quickly as possible.
Details are included below the signature. In summary, during the stay-in-place period:
- All in-person courses including lab classes will shift to remote-only delivery. There will be VERY few exceptions to this; if you are enrolled in a course with an exemption, you will receive direct communication from your instructor or dean.
- Undergraduates working in laboratories may not participate in laboratory activities this week.
- Students living in Duke-provided housing (including Avana, Blue Light, and the Washington Duke) must remain in their residence hall room or apartment at all times except for essential activities related to food, health, or safety.
- Students living off-campus in the Durham area are not permitted on campus, except to participate in surveillance testing, seek medical care at Student Health, or pick up grab-and-go food orders at the Crown Commons express pick up (5 minute limit).
- Common spaces such as the Bryan Center, Brodhead Center, and other campus buildings will only be open to residential students for essential activities (for example, food or package pick up), and only during limited hours. Details and open hours will be posted on the Keep Learning site.
- Additional details for on-campus and off-campus students are included below the signature.
WHY THIS IS NECESSARY NOW
If this feels serious, it’s because it is. This stay-in-place period is strongly recommended by our medical experts. The restriction of student movement—coupled with a renewed dedication to following social distancing, masking, symptom monitoring and other public health guidelines—gives us the best path toward curtailing further spread. Violations of these requirements will be considered a violation of the Duke Compact and will be treated as such; flagrant and repeated violations will be grounds for suspension or withdrawal from Duke.
Our ability to complete the semester, commencement for our seniors, and the health and safety of our community, including your fellow undergraduate students, is hanging in the balance. Now more than ever we NEED you to come together as a Duke community to meet this challenge together. We know you can do it.
Thank you and go Duke,
John Blackshear
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Gary Bennett
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education
Mary Pat McMahon
Vice Provost of Student Affairs
STAY-IN-PLACE DETAILS
During the stay-in-place period:
- All in-person courses including lab classes will shift to remote-only delivery. There will be VERY few exceptions to this; if you are enrolled in a course with an exemption, you will receive direct communication from your instructor or dean.
- Undergraduates working in laboratories may not participate in laboratory activities this week.
- Students living in Duke-provided housing (including Avana, Blue Light, and the Washington Duke) must remain in their residence hall room or apartment at all times except for essential activities related to food, health, or safety.
- Students living off-campus in the Durham area are not permitted on campus, except to participate in surveillance testing, seek medical care at Student Health, or pick up grab-and-go food orders at the Crown Commons express pick up (5 minute limit).
- Common spaces such as the Bryan Center, Brodhead Center and other campus buildings will only be open to residential students for essential activities (for example, food or package pick up), and only during limited hours. Details and open hours will be posted on the Keep Learning site.
- Libraries will be closed to undergraduate students.
- For those returning from travel, two negative surveillance tests will be required, even if this extends your quarantine past next weekend. All features of the stay-in-place pertain to you regardless of when you return.
- See additional details for on-campus and off-campus students below.
ON-CAMPUS STUDENTS
For students living in Duke-provided housing (including Avana, Blue Light, and the Washington Duke), during the duration of the stay-in-place period:
- On-campus students must remain in their residence hall room or apartment at all times except for essential activities.
- On-campus students may only leave their residence hall room or apartment for essential activities, such as:
- picking up food from Duke Dining locations
- participating in surveillance testing when called
- seeking medical care
- picking up essential supplies such as toiletries or mail (please note that pick-up times will be limited)
- spending time outdoors for exercise and recreation in a manner that does not increase the potential spread of COVID-19, in a maximum group of 3. This means no spikeball or other group outdoor games, even if masked and socially distanced.
- On-campus students will only have DukeCard access to their assigned residential space, to certain surveillance testing sites (check Duke Unitedfor location information as this may change), and Duke Dining locations.
- On-campus students are expected to remain on campus grounds for the duration of the stay-in-place period and limit any unnecessary movement or activity outside of their room/apartment.
- All dining will be pick-up only. NO eating together, either indoor or outdoor.
- Maximum group size for undergraduates OUTSIDE on campus is 3 people (you and two other people, preferably in your bubble), with masking and social distancing required at all times. This EXCLUDES dining—no eating together, whether indoor or outdoor.
- No group gatherings indoors. Common rooms and other gathering spaces in residence halls will be closed until further notice.
- A curfew of 9:00 p.m. will be in place for all undergraduate students on campus. This means you must be back in your residence hall by this time.
OFF-CAMPUS STUDENTS
For students living off-campus in the Durham area, during the duration of the stay-in-place period:
- Students living off-campus may not come to campus for any purpose except to:
- participate in surveillance testing when called,
- seek medical care at Student Health,
- pick up grab-and-go food orders at the Crown Commons express pick up (5 minute limit).
- Students living off-campus may only visit certain surveillance testing locations, but will be expected to show up for testing when called to do so. Visit the Duke United site for details.
- Students living off-campus will not have access to campus facilities for any other purpose, including visiting Duke Dining locations (aside from Crown Commons express pick up) or utilizing other public spaces like the Bryan Center, Brodhead Center, etc.
- We strongly encourage students living off-campus to limit any unnecessary movement or activity outside of their apartment/house to limit potential contact or spread with members of the community.
- We strongly encourage students living off-campus to make appropriate arrangements for food and necessary supplies to minimize contact with any members of the community.
RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS
IF YOU FEEL SICK: If you feel sick, you should call Student Health during business hours at 919-681-9355 and choose option 2 to speak to a triage nurse if you are experiencing any symptoms or have any concerns.
DINING: Find information on dining locations and hours, mobile ordering, and menus and nutrition facts from Duke Dining.
WELLNESS RESOURCES:
BLUE DEVILS CARE: 24/7 telemental-health support to all students at no cost, through immediate and scheduled appointments. Visit BlueDevilsCare.duke.edu and use code: DUKE2020.
CAPS: Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) offers many services to Duke students, including telemental-health appointments. Any student can call 919-660-1000 to speak with someone, or for assistance with referrals in your local community.
DUKEREACH: DukeReach will help you identify support services from among the variety of resources across campus or in your local community. You can contact DukeReach at 919-681-2455 or by emailing dukereach@duke.edu.
DUWELL: DuWell engages students through a variety of wellness experiences across campus in an effort to manage stress and reduce anxiety while emphasizing self-care.
“TWO-CLICK TO CONNECT” FORM: In just two clicks, you can select the category of person who will reach out to you within 24-48 hours, be it a trained Peer For You responder or a DukeReach staff member. These individuals are here to discuss whatever’s on your mind, help guide you through stressful times, and connect you to resources. Visit https://bit.ly/TwoClickSupport.
This message is sent to all Duke graduate and professional students.
March 13, 2021
Dear Graduate and Professional Students,
Over the past several days, we have continued to see a steady rise in the number of undergraduate students testing positive for COVID-19, principally as a result of recent off-campus, selective living group-related events. In an effort to mitigate further spread of the virus effective immediately we are now directing all undergraduate students to stay-in-place until Sunday, March 21. Please read the message below to understand what that stay-in-place entails.
The stay-in-place directive does not at the moment include graduate and professional students. All graduate and professional classes will continue as planned. We will evaluate over the coming week whether there is a need to extend the stay-in-place longer or expand it more broadly
We ask for your help in preventing the further spread of COVID-19 on campus and in the community. Please do not host or attend gatherings in apartments and homes; please refrain from interactions you might have with undergraduate students (and each other) over the next week; please do not come to campus unless it is for classes or other academic purposes; please do not attend large gatherings of any sort, especially unmasked
We want to thank all of you who have taken seriously the practices that have made it possible for us to be together on campus. And importantly, we thank you for helping us at this crucial time in containing further spread of Covid in the Duke and Durham communities.
Sally Kornbluth
Provost
Kyle Cavanaugh
Vice President for Administration
This message was followed by the email sent to Undergraduate Students. That message is available here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/2021/03/stay-in-place-for-duke-undergraduate-students-effective-at-midnight-saturday-march-13/
This message is sent to all Duke University faculty and staff.
March 13, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
Over the past several days, we have continued to see a steady rise in the number of undergraduate students testing positive for COVID-19, principally as a result of recent off-campus fraternity-related events. In an effort to mitigate any additional spread of the virus effective immediately we are now directing all undergraduate students to stay-in-place until Sunday, March 21. Please read the message below to understand what that stay-in-place entails.
Those of you teaching in-person classes this spring need to switch to remote delivery this week. The stay-in-place directive does not at the moment include graduate and professional students because we have seen little increase in COVID transmission spread among this population. All graduate and professional classes will continue as planned.
It is important to note that the majority of Duke students, faculty and staff continue to take seriously the practices that have made it possible for us to be together on campus. Unfortunately, though, the actions of those who have disregarded this guidance place others at risk and we must take these steps to protect the health and safety of our community.
Sincerely,
Sally Kornbluth
Provost
Kyle Cavanaugh
Vice President for Administration
This message was followed by the email sent to Undergraduate Students. That message is available here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/2021/03/stay-in-place-for-duke-undergraduate-students-effective-at-midnight-saturday-march-13/
This message was sent by email to all Duke faculty and staff.
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
The State of North Carolina announced that it will expand eligibility for COVID-19 vaccination to include a subset of Group 4 (Adults at High Risk for Exposure and Increased Risk of Severe Illness, Homeless, and Incarcerated Individuals) beginning March 17. At this time, college students in congregate housing are projected to be eligible for vaccination beginning April 7.
As a result, Duke will be inviting all faculty and staff who have not already been contacted to register for the vaccine in the coming week. Those faculty and staff identified as eligible in Group 3 (frontline essential workers) will receive an email from Duke Employee Health by Friday, March 12 inviting them to schedule an appointment. All others on the Duke payroll, including teaching assistants and research assistants, will receive an email early next week with an opportunity to schedule an appointment beginning March 17. Appointments will be added as supply becomes available, so individuals should continue to check for availability every few days.
Please note that Duke Health continues to receive a limited supply of vaccines and cannot accommodate the current demand from eligible individuals. We strongly encourage you to explore all options for vaccination, such as local public health departments, pharmacies and other providers that may have additional supply. If you received your COVID-19 vaccine outside of Duke Employee Health, please submit your documentation to Duke Employee Health.
As a reminder, the criteria for eligibility and the amount of vaccine available are both controlled by the State of North Carolina, not Duke University or Duke Health. The availability of the vaccine will continue to dictate how many and when eligible faculty and staff will be able to schedule appointments for vaccination with Duke Health. In addition, Duke Health is still prioritizing underserved populations and those at highest risk who have not yet received their vaccinations.
We are hopeful that vaccine supply will continue to increase in the coming weeks and months. Our hope is to make the vaccination available to as many individuals as possible, as quickly as possible. In the meanwhile, everyone should continue wearing a mask, maintaining social distance, and frequent hand washing to keep everyone safe as we see our way to the end of this pandemic. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kyle Cavanaugh
Vice President, Administration
Carol Epling, MD, MSPH
Director, Employee Occupational Health and Wellness
Gail Shulby, RN, MA, CPPS
Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President, Duke Health
Cameron R. Wolfe, MBBS (Hons), MPH, FIDSA
Associate Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Duke Health
Co-Leaders of the Duke COVID Vaccination Work Group
This message was sent by email to all Duke undergraduate students and to all undergraduate parents. A copy was also sent to all faculty from Provost Kornbluth and Vice President Cavanaugh.
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Dear students,
We are writing to follow up on our message from Monday regarding the recent spike in COVID-19 transmission among undergraduate students. Unfortunately, that spike has continued and the university must take additional steps to curtail further transmission in the days ahead. This new guidance will apply to all undergraduate students, and to all student groups regardless of their affiliation with Duke.
WHAT’S HAPPENED
Between Friday, March 5 and Tuesday, March 9 at 8 p.m. a total of 102 undergraduates have tested positive for COVID. Tuesday’s total of 32 positive undergraduate cases is the single highest daily count within our student population since the pandemic began. The majority of students in this group either have a known Greek affiliation and/or are first-year male students in the Class of 2024. Many of these cases are connected to the off-campus rush activities and parties hosted by individuals connected to Durham Interfraternity Council, which includes Greek organizations that have recently severed their affiliations with Duke. All of these are under investigation by the Office of Conduct and Community Standards and other authorities.
NEXT STEPS
All Durham-based students must adhere to the follow guidance until further notice:
- Do not host or attend in-person events of 10 people or more. It remains Duke’s policy that student gatherings are limited to 10 people indoors or outdoors, unless specially approved by the Student Events Policy Committee.
- Do not host, attend, or participate in any in-person rush events, on or off-campus, whether or not the group is affiliated with Duke. As has been stated, all rush events must also be virtual unless otherwise approved.
- To be clear, students who are seeking to affiliate with any selective organization may not participate in any in-person rush, pledge, or other selection activity for any affiliated or unaffiliated student group.
Failure to comply with these expectations will be considered a flagrant violation of The Duke Compact and Duke Community Standard and will be dealt with accordingly in the student conduct process. Individuals and groups that violate Duke and Durham public health guidance are also subject to disciplinary action. Students found responsible for hosting off-campus events or other flagrant violations of The Duke Compact may face serious sanctions up to and including suspension and/or expulsion. Disciplinary processes for students found responsible for hosting off-campus events have already resulted in multi-semester suspensions.
GUIDANCE FOR STUDENTS WHO ARE TRAVELING THIS WEEK
It is essential that all students who travel away from Durham this week strictly adhere to the following guidance when returning to campus. Please note that any student who has missed their surveillance test this week will be presumed to have traveled and must also adhere to these requirements.
Every undergraduate living on- or off-campus returning from travel this week must sequester in their room or apartments until they have cleared two rounds of surveillance testing, including the 48-hour notification period following the second test.
Sequester entails staying in one’s room or apartment at all times other than to get food and essential supplies, participate in surveillance testing, or get exercise. Students must not attend in-person classes or access non-essential in-person resources until their sequester period is completed. In the fall semester, we asked students to sequester for a shorter period of time; note that the sequester period here is PENDING THE OUTCOME OF TWO TESTS. The return-to-campus sequester requirement is firm and failure to adhere may result in loss of campus privileges or suspension from the university.
INCREASED SURVEILLANCE TESTING FOR ALL UNDERGRADUATES
As always, undergraduate students will be called to surveillance testing twice in the upcoming week; many undergraduates will be called for more frequent testing in the near term. This increase is designed to help the modeling team track and respond to any patterns in transmission.
GOING FORWARD
These steps are designed to assist us in curtailing COVID transmission among undergraduates. We are confident that you all can adhere to this new guidance so that we can flatten the curve on campus without employing additional steps to restrict campus life. Should they be necessary, however, next steps may include instituting a nightly curfew, further restrictions on campus navigation and access, ending in-person courses or cancelling planned activities.
To be clear, we recognize that the vast majority of undergraduates are committed to ensuring the health and safety of our entire community— students, faculty, and staff alike. Following our Monday message, we each heard from students who asked that we be more transparent about the individuals and groups whose actions are disproportionately impacting their classmates. We are doing so by reiterating specific restrictions on, and consequences for, conducting or participating in rush events and will not hesitate to take further action if needed.
In turn, we ask the entire student community to renew its commitment to our collective goal of looking out for each other and completing our semester on campus. In a year of loss, let’s come together to ensure that our seniors can complete their time at Duke without additional interruption and that the campus community can get through a hard-fought year without wholly preventable and dangerous setbacks. We know you can ALL meet this challenge together.
Thank you and go Duke,
John Blackshear
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Gary Bennett
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education
Mary Pat McMahon
Vice Provost of Student Affairs
Duke University’s comprehensive COVID-19 testing and contact tracing program administered 19,859 tests to 10,478 students and 2,678 tests to 1,541 faculty/staff for the period March 1-7 2021, with a total of 57 positive results.
Among students there were 53 positive results, almost entirely among undergraduate students, (46 of the 53). 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. The total positivity rate was 0.25%.
The full announcement of testing results is posted to Duke Today.
Testing data is also available on our Testing Tracker, which is updated every Tuesday.
The message below was sent to all Duke undergraduate students. Additionally, this message was forwarded to all faculty and staff from Provost Kornbluth and Vice President Cavanaugh.
Monday, March 8, 2021
Dear students,
We are writing with some urgent information and to outline steps you must take to protect your health and safety and of those around you. Last week we had a noticeable one-week increase in positive COVID tests, with 46 total undergraduate cases (28 on campus). By comparison, the prior week we had 22 total undergraduate cases (8 on campus). This increase poses a significant risk to our effort to stop COVID’s spread and to maintain some semblance of normal university life. We need every student’s help in order to curb transmission.
WHAT WE’RE SEEING
Contact tracers do not share identifying information about individual students’ identities or actions, but they do report the following aggregate trends:
- The majority of the undergraduate cases are connected to students who attended unmasked off-campus gatherings or have travelled.
- 19 of the 28 on-campus positives are first-year male students who reside on East Campus.
- Contact tracers are also noting an increase in students who are reluctant or unwilling to disclose important information that is necessary to keep others at Duke and in the community safe.
Our surveillance and Student Health teams are also reporting a trend in which students—later determined to be COVID positive—are experiencing symptoms but not reporting these on the SymMon app.
This delay in reporting possible infection increases the risk of transmitting the virus to others in our community.
WHAT YOU NEED TO DO NOW
We need all undergraduates to take the following steps this week:
- Report your symptoms accurately and fully every day, regardless of whether you are on campus this week or not.
- Do not attend any unmasked gatherings or any gatherings of more than 10 people, on or off-campus. Remember that repeated flagrant violations of the Duke Compact and COVID safety expectations—such as organizing events or providing incorrect information to contact tracers—can lead to increased severity of sanctions for individual students.
- If you are screened by contact tracers, you must fully report your potential exposures and patterns. To reiterate: contact tracing is confidential, but it’s also possible to triangulate when a student or group of students are withholding information and putting others at risk. Failure to comply fully with contact tracing is a safety risk to others and a violation of the Duke Compact.
- If you are travelling this week but have not registered your travel using the travel form, we still need you to do so by Wednesday at noon in order to help us track and manage spread.
- If you are away from Duke and begin experiencing possible COVID symptoms or are exposed to COVID, seek guidance from a local medical provider. If you test positive for COVID, notify Student Health. Do not return to Durham or travel otherwise until you have completed all isolation/quarantine directives.
- If you are traveling this week, you will be required to participate in surveillance testing immediately upon return and you will be required to sequester in your room during the 48 hours in which you would expect to hear about any positive test results. Failure to do so will be considered a flagrant violation of the Duke Compact.
While we all wish it was otherwise, COVID is not over. Every student’s actions and decisions matter in our effort to stop the pandemic. The risks to you and to others in the Duke and Durham communities remain very serious, and any group or individual’s actions that incur additional risks may severely jeopardize vulnerable individuals in our community.
We hope everyone gets some truly needed downtime during this week’s days off from classes. So many of you are working diligently to protect your health and that of our community; it’s urgent that we keep this up through the rest of the semester. Thank you for all that you are doing.
Go Duke,
John Blackshear
Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students
Mary Pat McMahon
Vice Provost of Student Affairs
Gary Bennett
Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education
This message is being sent to all Duke undergraduate students.
Friday, March 5, 2021
Dear students,
As you all know, undergraduates have two days off next week. These days were inserted into the Spring Calendar after DSG advocacy in order to give you all a well-needed break. University leadership did so because we are confident in your partnership in following the Duke Compact. We are writing to share a few important reminders before those days:
- Rules related to travel are still in effect. If you have any planned travel, you must let us know via the travel form. Per the Duke Compact and Duke’s COVID policies and expectations, all students are expected to stay in Durham for the entirety of the spring semester.
- Surveillance testing will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday of next week. Unless you are pre-approved to travel via the form linked above, you will be called in for surveillance testing during those days.
- We will be checking Duke IDs at all testing sites next week. Make sure to bring your physical DukeCard with you or have your Mobile DukeCard on your phone.
We need each of you to continue to do your part to keep our community safe. After seeing recent testing numbers and Duke’s tentative commencement plans, we are excited and hopeful—let’s not erase this good work so close to the end.
If students are found traveling outside of Durham without prior approval, please keep in mind that this is a violation of the Duke Compact and will be treated as such. Please do your part: submit the form if you are leaving the area, sequester once your return, and report to surveillance testing when called.
Hang in there, Dukies. Help us continue the semester as planned.
Go Duke,
Duke COVID Response Team