[UPDATED] Duke reports 4 positive COVID-19 tests among returning students, plus 1 new student-athlete case

Update: This story was updated at 9:38 p.m. Wednesday with information about one new student-athlete testing positive. 

Out of 3,116 COVID-19 tests administered to returning graduate and undergraduate students in August, four results have so far come back positive, Duke announced in a Wednesday news release. 

One more student-athlete has tested positive for the virus as well, wrote Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, in a Wednesday message to The Chronicle. That makes for a total of 26 positive tests since athletes began returning to campus last month. 

Duke announced in late July that 25 student-athletes had tested positive, and Schoenfeld wrote that one additional positive test came after that announcement. The result is separate from the other four, he wrote.

All 26 athletes have been through isolation and “have since been cleared to return to their daily activities,” according to Wednesday’s news release. 

All students have to be tested upon returning to campus, whether living in Duke housing or off campus. Students’ DukeCards aren’t activated until they are tested, and students have to sequester at their residence until they receive results. 

Students who test positive have to isolate until they’re cleared to return to campus. For students living in Duke housing, the University has set up quarantine and isolation space in East House and Jarvis dorms on East Campus, with additional capacity in the recently purchased Lodge at Duke Medical Center hotel. Students living off campus have to quarantine or isolate at home if necessary. 

After initial testing is complete, Duke will use pooled testing to monitor for the virus among students living in Duke housing, as well as graduate and professional students who attend classes or work on campus and faculty and staff who frequently interact with students. 

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