Duke reports first COVID-19 cluster among students at off-campus apartments in Durham
Duke University reported its first cluster of COVID-19 cases among students this week at an apartment complex off campus.
Nine undergraduate students living at the Solis Apartments on Main Street in Durham have tested positive since Oct. 7. The apartment complex is not owned or operated by Duke. About one-quarter of the residents are Duke students, according to the university.
The students are “doing well” under the care of Duke Student Health, according to Mike Schoenfeld, Duke’s chief communications officer and vice president for public affairs and government relations.
“All of our systems worked the way they were supposed to — the initial case was identified through surveillance testing, contact tracing was activated, students in the friend group were placed in quarantine,” Schoenfeld said.
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These nine students, plus three employees, bring the total number of coronavirus cases associated with campus since August to 107. And 92 of those individuals have been cleared to return to normal activity on campus.
Schoenfeld said most transmission among Duke students is through small friend groups like with this cluster. The state defines a cluster as five or more cases in close proximity.
All Duke students living at the Solis were told about the situation on Monday night and have done enhanced mandatory surveillance testing this week, Schoenfeld said.
Duke is working with Durham County Public Health and Solis management to continue contact tracing. All residents can get a COVID-19 test at Duke Health’s downtown testing center.
There was no public or university-wide announcement because Duke determined there was no additional risk to the broader Duke community given the circumstances and location of the cases, according to Schoenfeld. But the cases were reported to Durham Public Health.
The university hasn’t seen big spikes in coronavirus cases this fall and is still offering in-person classes and students are still living in dorms on campus.
Duke’s comprehensive COVID-19 testing program has been a key part of the strategy to curb the spread of the virus. Duke, which required students to get tested before coming to campus, has completed more than 87,000 tests since August.
Duke is doing about 15,000 tests each week and averaging between five and 15 positive results a week, according to Schoenfeld. There’s no indication that is about to change in a significant way, he said.
