Duke University to issued a stay-in-place order for all undergraduate students on Mar. 13. (Brian Carlson | CC BY-SA 2.0)
A recent spike in COVID-19 cases following fraternity parties has led Duke University to issue a stay-in-place order for all undergraduate students.
In a message sent to undergraduate students on March 13, Duke announced its stay-in-place period is effective from March 13 to March 21. On-campus students at Duke will be required to remain in their residence hall rooms and will only be permitted to leave for essential activities, such as picking up food and essential supplies, receiving medical care, testing, and outdoor recreation which does not increase the potential spread of COVID-19. Courses will be conducted entirely virtually.
According to the University's message, Duke has had over 180 positive cases and 200 students quarantined through contact tracing in the past week alone — the largest one-week jump since the start of the pandemic.
In February, Penn warned that it might introduce a similar quarantine procedure for its students in response to “worrisome trends” in the COVID-19 positivity rate on campus.
Provost Wendell Pritchett, Executive Vice President Craig Carnaroli, and Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé warned students in February that the University would enter Alert Level 3: Safer at Home if they continued to see a rise in positive COVID-19 cases. Cases have since decreased, however, and Penn did not move to Level 3.
“These new cases are almost all linked to unsanctioned fraternity recruitment events that took place off campus," Vice President for Public Affairs & Government Relations at Duke University Michael Schoenfeld wrote. "Those who are found responsible for organizing and hosting these events will be held accountable through the student conduct process.”
In February, Penn warned fraternities and sororities to stop in-person events after Greek life members accounted for a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases.
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