Duke reports 17 new positive COVID-19 tests for students, 3 for faculty and staff out of 15,143 total

There were 20 new positive coronavirus tests reported at Duke between Oct. 10 and Oct. 16, out of 15,143 total tests, according to data released Monday on the University’s COVID-19 testing tracker.

Among students, there were 17 positive coronavirus tests out of 13,458 total, for a positivity rate of 0.13%. That includes 4 positives among students who participated in surveillance testing, out of 13,348 total. 

Additionally, 13 of 110 tests were positive among students who had symptoms or were determined to have been in close contact with someone who tested positive. 

The positive tests among students come after Duke reported its first student cluster on Friday, at an off-campus apartment complex. Seven of the nine students involved tested positive while in precautionary quarantine, and the cluster was identified last Monday.

There were also three new positive tests among faculty and staff out of 1,685 total, for a positivity rate of 0.18%. That number includes no positive surveillance tests out of 1,559 total, and three positives out of 126 tests conducted on faculty and staff who had symptoms or were determined to have been in close contact with someone who had a positive COVID-19 test.  

This week’s numbers include seven positive tests from last week’s cluster, with the other two counted in last week’s testing update, according to a news release. Nine more off-campus students also tested positive, for a total of 16 off-campus student cases of the 17 total. 

That news release also clarified that two of the three faculty or staff members that tested positive are already working from home and have not been on campus since March. 

In total, 123 people were placed in precautionary quarantine and 179 were released, according to Monday’s update. A total of 20 people were placed in isolation and 13 were cleared to leave after having previously tested positive.