Duke announced last week that students would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting April 1, but many students have been receiving their COVID-19 vaccinations in a variety of other ways.
The decision was made based on the “the uncertainty of testing availability in 2021 and the continued disruptions related to COVID-19,” the announcement states.
Duke will be inviting all seniors and students who graduated early to the May 2 in-person commencement ceremony for the Class of 2021, President Vincent Price wrote in a Wednesday email to undergraduates.
Twenty-five students and 18 faculty and staff tested positive for COVID-19 out of 21,943 tests between Mar. 23 and Mar. 29, according to data Duke released Tuesday on its testing tracker.
Duke announced last week that students in the Durham area would be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine starting April 1. Now the University is rolling out its registration system.
After being closed for more than a year due to the pandemic, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens are reopening to allow members of the Duke community time amid the flowers and the geese.
Many juniors’ plans of spending a semester abroad were foiled with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. But with the end of the pandemic in sight, some are planning to study abroad during their senior fall semester. Compared to a typical semester, three times as many rising seniors have applied to fall 2021 Duke-In programs.
Despite the challenges posed by this school year, student ensembles at Duke have persevered and found ways to continue making the music they love.
Student volunteers at the Duke Nursing and Rehabilitation Center have used virtual resources to stay connected with residents over the past year, though Zoom complicated things for both parties.
Thanks to online classes, students spend much more time in their residence halls than they would in an ordinary year, but because of COVID-19-related restrictions, fostering community within dorms has been an uphill battle for resident assistants.
East Campus Union, which includes Marketplace and Trinity Cafe, will be closed until further notice after several Marketplace dining staff tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Monday email from Student Affairs.
Some recent graduates are frustrated after being told that students who are not participating in surveillance testing this spring, including those who graduated in September or December 2020, cannot attend the May 2 in-person commencement ceremony Duke hopes to hold.
Elementary school students in Durham Public Schools returned to schools on March 15, and middle and high school students will begin returning April 8. Families can still choose to remain learning virtually. For Durham Public School educators and administrators, this was short notice to begin preparing their schools for students.
Average daily cases in North Carolina have dropped to 1,787, a four-month low for the state that comes among an increase in vaccinations. Nearly one in five residents is fully vaccinated, and with more vaccine doses on the way, public health and government officials are hopeful about further reopening the state.
The resolution “urges administration to consistently hold egregious offenders accountable—particularly from a Conduct and Community Standards perspective—to curtail another rise in COVID-19 cases, as promised when the Duke Compact was created at the end of summer 2020.”
With Duke planning for a “close to normal” fall semester, many on-campus groups may have the chance to resume their activities and hold in-person events again, including Duke’s seven living learning communities.
Duke’s Panhellenic Association condemned violations of the University’s COVID-19 protocols and emphasized the organization’s commitment to accountability in a statement to The Chronicle on Monday evening. Panhel wrote that the University “should hold both individuals and organizations accountable for COVID-safety violations,” but did not name Durham IFC when criticizing infractions of Duke’s community standards.
Current research indicates that this form of the virus may be more transmissible and more deadly than the original variant discovered in Wuhan.
Some students experienced acute anxiety over disruption of their academic schedules.
Sixty-one students tested positive for COVID-19 last week, down sharply after a weeklong campus lockdown.
