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The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) CDC has changed its guidance for non-healthcare workers/non-healthcare settings regarding isolation and masking during COVID-19 infection. Our Infection Prevention (IP), Employee Occupational Health & Wellness (EOHW), Occupational & Environmental Safety Office (OESO) teams want to clarify the impact on team members and patients by sharing the following information.

What does this mean for our team members?

Narrowed definition of patient-facing healthcare personnel (HCP) as follows: Personnel who directly interact with patients (i.e., you come within 6 feet of patients in your daily work) or personnel who work closely with colleagues who directly interact with patients.

Patient-facing HCP guidance:

• No changes have been made to our current approach for patient-facing HCP with COVID-19 infection:
• 5-day mandatory isolation then wear a well-fitting mask to complete 10 days after the first day of symptom onset
• Must be fever-free for 24 hours without fever-suppressing medication AND symptoms are improving to return to work

Non-patient-facing HCP guidance:

• Team member will self-determine their return-to-work date following these rules:
• May not work while sick with fever, systemic symptoms, or severe symptoms (i.e. significant cough)
  Must be fever-free for 24 hours without fever-suppressing medication AND symptoms are improving to return to work
• Upon return to work, the team member must wear a well-fitting mask while around other people to complete 10 days after the first day of symptom onset.

What does this mean for our patients?

• The guidance does not apply to COVID-19 infected patients’ isolation precautions or duration of isolation while receiving care in inpatient or outpatient healthcare settings.
• Transmission-based precautions (gloves, gown, eye protection, N95 or PAPR) should still be used by team members when caring for COVID-19 infected patients for the duration of isolation (10 or 20 days).
• Patients with active COVID-19 infection should continue to wear well-fitting masks when visiting outpatient healthcare spaces or leaving their hospital rooms for required diagnostics/procedures/etc. for the duration of isolation (10 or 20 days).

On Jan. 31, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared COVID-19 a public health emergency, launching what would become a three-year crusade against a new and dangerous virus. Across Duke Health and beyond, the pandemic created anxiety, fear and sadness, while also inspiring innovation, bravery and acts of kindness.

On Thursday, May 11, 2023, the pandemic comes to an official end with the revocation of the public health emergency. Dr. Cameron Wolfe, an infectious disease specialists who served on the front lines of care at Duke, reflects on all that has transpired over the past three years.

TO: Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors, Department Heads, and Managers

FROM: Kyle Cavanaugh, Vice President, Administration

RE: Update on Reporting COVID-Related Absences

In June, we announced a transition period from July 1 – Aug. 31, 2021, to allow staff to use up to 40 hours of COVID paid time without using their accrued time off. Beginning Sept. 1, staff would then use their accrued time (sick leave, vacation, etc.) for all instances where work in not being performed.

As a result of a recent update to state and federal guidelines, Duke has modified this policy to ensure that anyone who has exhausted their accrued time off and is required to be out of work due to the COVID-related issues below will be kept in a paid status until cleared by Employee Occupational Health & Wellness (EOHW) to return to work.

1. The policy specifically covers absences for any of the following reasons:
2. COVID testing (up to two shifts per test)
3. Quarantine or isolation related to COVID
4. Hospitalized because of COVID or COVID complications
5. Side effects after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine (up to one shift per dose)

COVID-19 paid time is not applicable for quarantine required due to a return from personal international travel. Individuals returning from international travel should follow the appropriate guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If individuals may be able to work remotely during this time with the approval of their supervisor. If remote work is not possible, individuals will need to use accrued time off to remain in a paid status during their quarantine period.

Submitting & Tracking COVID Time

• To maintain confidentiality, Employee Occupational and Health Wellness (EOHW) will include the appropriate COVID-19 pay code on the Health Recommendation Form (HRF).
• Supervisors should then submit a Gross Adjustment form to Corporate Payroll Services using the designated pay code and corresponding reason code provided by EOHW so the time is paid as part of the normal payroll cycle. This form is only necessary for biweekly-paid (non-exempt) staff, since monthly-paid (exempt) staff will continue to receive their salary for time missed.
• Staff members should not report the time on their timecard or record the time as vacation or sick leave between July 1 – Aug. 31.
• Managers should use the COVID Time Tracking form to track any COVID Time used by biweekly-paid and monthly-paid staff members to ensure no individual exceeds the 40-hour cap from July 1 – Aug. 31. Tracking COVID Time will no longer be required after Aug. 31.

In all cases, staff members will be required to be cleared to return to work by EOHW and are expected to report to their next scheduled shift. COVID-19 Paid Time is provided at the team member’s base rate of pay without differentials.

We appreciate your ongoing flexibility in managing this process in response to changing dynamics with the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you.

This message was sent to parents and families of undergraduate students

Each month the Dean of Students Office sends an update to all undergraduate students to provide transparency and awareness of our response to COVID-19 related and other allegations of misconduct. Duke University takes the health and safety of the Duke and Durham communities seriously and part of our responsibility during a pandemic is educating our students about their responsibilities and holding individuals accountable when violations of policy occur.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards has reviewed all submitted allegations of Duke Compact violations and held those found responsible of flagrant or repeated disregard of these policy expectations accountable. 

Thanks, 
Parent & Family Programs  

This message was followed by the full email sent to undergraduate students. That message is available here: https://coronavirus.duke.edu/2021/03/student-conduct-updates-march-17/

With the growing numbers of new COVID-19 cases in both North Carolina and the country, Duke University is adjusting plans for the residential component of its fall semester.

In a message sent to Duke students, faculty and staff Sunday, President Vincent E. Price said the university will limit Duke-provided housing in the fall to first-year students, sophomores and students who require special accommodations because of personal, academic or other reasons.  Juniors and seniors will receive priority for the spring semester, Price added, with first-year students and sophomores to join them if conditions improve.

(The full message, along with an FAQ on residential life, safety measures, and COVID-19 testing, can be found on Duke Today.)

Dear Colleagues,  

As we continue to prepare for the 2020-21 academic year—a year that will be unlike any other in Duke’s history—I want to provide you with an update and further direction on our planning. As it has from the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the safety of our campus and Durham community is our paramount priority and will always drive decisions.  

Across the university, many are working around the clock to continue our core missions of education, research, patient care, and service with the excellence that characterizes Duke.  Already we have reopened—deliberately, thoughtfully and safely—numerous research laboratories and clinical practices, bringing several thousand faculty, staff and graduate students back to campus with new safety practices, and we are learning every day from their experience.  We have also been in contact with many university colleagues over the last several months to understand their interests and concerns during this challenging time.  

We are still on track to decide many details about the upcoming academic year by the end of June. Let me tell you where we are now:   

Our goal is to enable as many of our students who are able and who choose to participate in an on-campus experience for the fall semester to do so, but only if it can be done safely.  We are fortunate to have, in Duke Health, the resources of a world-leading academic medical center to help guide and support our university community.  As our faculty and academic leaders collaborate to prepare a dynamic and flexible educational experience, we are working with medical and public health experts, as well as with specialists in residential and classroom facilities, food service and environmental health and safety to reinvent our living, working, and learning spaces and adapt to the new realities that we will confront in all aspects of our lives.  I will describe some of those details below.  

Our academic calendar will change to maximize our time on campus, and to minimize the disruptions and potential health hazards of travel during the semester.  Fall semester classes for undergraduates will begin a week earlier than originally planned, on Monday, August 17, and final exams will conclude before Thanksgiving.  We expect the arrival of residential students to be staggered over several days before the start of classes. There will not be a Fall Break in 2020.  The spring semester will begin a week later than normal, on Tuesday, January 19, and final exams will be held the week of April 26. Commencement for the Class of 2021 will take place on Sunday, May 9.  There will be no Spring Break in 2021. More information on course registration and re-registration, and housing assignments, will be available by the end of June.  

Our first-year students will receive additional information on move-in and orientation programs, which are being developed now. Orientation will include online programming prior to first-year students’ arrival on campus, which we now expect will take place over several days during the week of August 10.  Final details will be provided by the end of June.

Graduate and professional schools will operate on calendars specific to their needs, and students will be notified about the schedules directly by their schools.  

Assuming students will be on campus, all Duke courses will be offered in one of three formats: in-person instruction conducted in classrooms on the Duke campus, fully online courses that take advantage of the best pedagogy and technology available for remote education, and hybrid courses that involve some combination of in-person and online instruction.  Students who are on campus can expect their courses to be taught in both in-person and online modes.  Students who cannot or who do not wish to be on campus, or who have to be quarantined or return home, will still be able to engage in a full curriculum of courses and make progress toward their degrees.  To this end, all in-person classes will also have the necessary online components.  

Our faculty and staff, too, are making the transition to this new environment, and we have engaged experts in digital learning to ensure that we have the best guidance in developing and presenting our courses, whether in a newly-configured classroom or online.  In addition, courses that include labs, performances, travel, and other unique requirements will be revised to accommodate protocols for physical distancing and online access, though we recognize that might not be possible in all situations. We are also looking to create special “immersion” periods when students might come to campus to complete lab, or lab-type, components of courses.  

To do all this safely and successfully, we all must make significant changes to the way we live, study and work, and we are reconfiguring residential, classroom and office facilities to make it possible.  Success will only be achieved if all members of the Duke community do their part—which will call upon extraordinary mutual support, clearly articulated behavioral norms, and an unshakable personal commitment. To this end, we expect that all members of our university community will enter into a compact, the Duke Compact, that recognizes our shared responsibility for our collective health and well-being. Committing to the Duke Compact means we care enough about each other to comply with new policies and protocols. These are under careful development, and final policies and protocols will align with the latest and most reliable scientific information, experience, and local, state, and federal guidelines.  At this point, we expect practices along the following lines.   

• All members of the Duke community—faculty, students, staff, visitors—will be required to wear masks in classroom and public settings and practice physical distancing as mandated by local law and university policy.
• Robust and wide-ranging testing systems will be in place. All students living on campus will be tested for COVID-19 before they are permitted to begin classes.
• All students will complete daily health checks through a monitoring app and report concerning symptoms to the Student Health and Wellness.
• All students living in on-campus or off-campus housing will be expected to remain in the Durham area during the semester.
• All students who report symptoms will have to follow the testing, contact tracing and quarantine protocols established by Duke, Durham County and the State of North Carolina should they become ill or exposed to COVID-19.
• While many co-curricular and extra-curricular activities (lectures, performances, club activities,  events) will be held virtually, there will be opportunities for in-person gatherings that meet university and public health guidelines.
• On-campus dining centers will provide expanded take-out options and limited in-person service using reservation systems.
• Access to campus facilities by students, faculty, staff and visitors will be restricted and new guidelines on space configuration, capacity, traffic flow, cleaning and sanitation protocols will be in place.  

Perhaps more than ever before in our lifetimes, the actions of one member of our community can have catastrophic implications for all.  Thus, we will take these commitments seriously at all levels.  For students, failure to adhere to these guidelines could be grounds for disciplinary and other actions necessary to protect the health and safety of the Duke community.  

We remain steadfastly committed to inclusivity, and for its sake, to flexibility. We will continue to encourage, where practical, work from home.  Students who choose not to participate in the on-campus experience in 2020-2021 – or who are unable to be physically in Durham due to travel restrictions, personal circumstances, or family obligations – are assured that we will make every effort to support their continued learning and engagement in campus life while remote.  Our experience this spring has been instructive in many ways, and we will build on this unplanned shift to develop the safest possible working and learning conditions to advance our core missions.   

Finally, and it bears repeating, all of this is subject to change based on public health guidance, medical advice, local conditions and laws, and variables that may not even be known to us today.  Such is the nature of life in and after a pandemic.

Regardless of the circumstances, I know we will get through this.  It won’t look easy, and it won’t look anything like we’re used to experiencing.  But we’ll get through it because our people—faculty, students, staff, families and friends — are thoughtful, collaborative, creative, adaptable, and committed to excellence. We will get through it because we are Duke.     

I so look forward to seeing many of you on campus, in all the familiar places. In the meantime, stay tuned to your email and Duke websites for more information and updates. And please accept my very best wishes for your health and safety and the start of what will be an unforgettable summer.

Sincerely,

Vincent E. Price
President