There were 82 new positive coronavirus tests reported at Duke between Jan. 18 and Jan. 24, out of 30,581 total tests, according to data released Tuesday on the University’s COVID-19 testing tracker.
This week’s 82 positive tests are the highest that Duke has reported in a single week, compared to 76 between last week and 62 from the week before, although the number of tests conducted was also the highest ever this week and has nearly tripled since the first week.
This week saw a higher number of positive cases among students compared to last week, but a lower positivity rate due to the larger number of tests conducted. The number of positive cases and the positivity rate for faculty also declined between this week and last week.
Among students, there were 62 positive coronavirus tests out of 27,865 total, for a positivity rate of 0.22%. That includes 25 positives among students who participated in surveillance testing, out of 24,683 total.
Additionally, 21 of 189 tests were positive among students who had symptoms or were determined to have been in close contact with someone who tested positive, and 16 of 2,993 entry tests for returning students came back positive.
There were also 20 new positive tests among faculty and staff out of 2,716 total, for a positivity rate of 0.74%. That number includes three positive surveillance tests out of 2,581 total, and 17 positives out of 135 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.
There are currently 100 active coronavirus cases listed on the tracker, 70 among students and 30 among faculty and staff.
In total, 215 people were placed in precautionary quarantine and 156 were released last week, according to Tuesday’s update. A total of 82 people were placed in isolation and 72 were released.
Since Jan. 3, Duke has administered 62,410 tests and reported a total of 220 positives among faculty, staff and students. Those 220 positive tests follow a total of 267 from the return to campus last summer and the fall semester, including 241 listed on the tracker and 26 positive tests among student-athletes from before the tracker was active.
The University has conducted multiple kinds of testing, including entry testing of every returning student, testing based on contact tracing and pooled surveillance testing of asymptomatic people.
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Mona Tong is a Trinity senior and director of diversity, equity and inclusion analytics for The Chronicle's 117th volume. She was previously news editor for Volume 116.