Duke reports more than 700 COVID-19 cases for fourth week in a row

Duke has reported more than 700 weekly COVID-19 cases for the fourth week in a row.

Most recently, there were 735 positive cases from Jan. 24 to Jan. 30, with 646 cases among students and 89 among faculty and staff members. The positivity rate was 4.54%. As of Monday, Jan. 30, there were 509 active cases remaining.

Last week’s 735 reported cases is a figure similar to the 732 cases reported Jan. 17 to Jan. 23 and the 714 cases reported the week of Jan. 10 to Jan. 16. 

The period from Jan. 3 to Jan. 6, when students returned to campus for the spring 2022 semester, saw the highest number of COVID-19 cases since Duke began its testing program, with 871 positive cases reported. There were 635 cases among students and 236 cases among faculty and staff, reaching a positivity rate of 5.88%. However, only one-third of undergraduate students had returned to campus by Jan. 6. 

Duke’s high positivity rates coincide with North Carolina’s high COVID-19 case numbers and the higher transmission risk of the Omicron variant. As of Monday evening, North Carolina reported 672,038 total COVID-19 cases and 1,079 COVID-19 related deaths for the month of January. 

The University has reported 3,431 positive student cases and 831 positive faculty and staff cases since Aug. 2, with a cumulative positivity rate of 1.1%. Duke has mandated that all students and employees receive the COVID-19 booster shot by Feb. 15 or as soon as they are eligible under Center for Disease Control and Prevention and state guidelines.