- Entry Testing for Spring Semester
- Surveillance Testing During the Semester
- Surveillance Test Sites
- Contacts for Student Questions
- FAQs: Surveillance Testing
- FAQs for Graduate and Professional Student Testing Protocols for Spring 2021
- Testing for Symptomatic or Exposed Individuals During the Semester
- Isolation for COVID-Positive Students
Entry Testing for Spring Semester 2021
All students who will be living on campus or who plan to be on campus for approved academic purposes were then required to undergo testing for COVID-19 upon their arrival to campus. Please note that your DukeCard will not be activated until you complete entry testing.
Prior to arrival, students should report any positive results to Student Health through Duke MyChart and observe isolation protocols BEFORE returning to Durham. If you are in quarantine due to exposure to others with COVID-19, please inform Student Health. You should NOT return to campus or Durham until your quarantine or isolation period has ended and you are symptom-free. If you are in isolation and cannot return to campus at the designated time, please email keeplearning@duke.edu, and contact Student Health and your academic dean.
Undergraduate Entry Testing:
You must register for a testing slot in advance of your arrival. Please be sure to register for your testing slot by Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. We encourage you to plan your travel around your confirmed testing time; do NOT just show up to Penn Pavilion without having a confirmed testing slot.
If you are living on campus this spring : On-campus and Duke-provided housing will open on Friday, January 15, 2021. Please follow the link below to sign up for a testing slot on the day of your move-in, NOT in the days prior. Students will not have access to their residence until they complete their entry test.
If you are living elsewhere in or around Durham this spring: Undergraduate students who are living elsewhere in Durham (not in Duke-provided housing) this spring will need to be tested by January 20, 2021 to have their DukeCard activated in time for the start of classes.
If you remained on campus over break: Students who remained on campus over Winter Break will participate in entry testing in early January. Please pay close attention to your email for further instructions on when and how to sign up for your testing slot.
- When: January 14 – 20, 2021, 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. (Note: No testing on Monday, Jan. 18 due to MLK, Jr. holiday. Extended hours until 6 p.m. on Jan. 15 and Jan. 20).
- Where: Penn Pavilion, West Campus.
- How: Register here for your entry test.
Graduate/Professional Student Entry Testing:
Graduate and professional students who plan to be on campus for any reason and any length of time this spring, even just to pick up library books, are required to participate in entry testing upon their arrival in Durham. Please note that your DukeCard will not be activated until you complete entry testing, unless you have been cleared to continue coming to campus and are currently participating in winter break surveillance testing.
Entry testing for graduate and professional students will take place in Penn Pavilion. You must register for a testing slot in advance. Each graduate and professional student was sent an email with their assigned testing window based on program start date as well as the need to access labs and other campus facilities. Please be sure to register for your testing slot by Wednesday, Dec. 30 using the link in the email you received on Dec. 21, 2020.
We encourage you to plan your travel around your confirmed testing time; please do NOT just show up to Penn Pavilion without having a confirmed testing slot. Further details on entry testing, including parking details and on-site procedures, will be shared later. In the meantime, questions about testing may be sent to your program contact.
Post-Arrival Sequester Period
After entry testing, all students are required to sequester in their residence hall or off-campus home until they receive a negative COVID-19 test result. Test results will be made available through Duke MyChart, likely 36 – 48 hours after testing. While awaiting your test results, students are expected to limit any unnecessary movement and activity outside of their room, and should avoid other students and staff during this time.
Any students who test positive will receive isolation instructions, under the care of Duke clinicians, and will participate in contact tracing, which is used to identify any other potential positive cases.
Surveillance Testing During Spring Semester
Duke will conduct regular surveillance testing of students and other campus community members who do not have any symptoms to assist in the early detection and response for potential COVID-19 cases on campus.
Testing will begin the week of Jan. 6 for faculty, staff and students on-site. Testing locations will be expanded in subsequent weeks as operations expand. All students will be required to participate in surveillance testing several times a week. The self-administered process should take about 5 minutes, and collection sites will be established in multiple locations on East and West campuses for convenience.
Below are the steps for the screening process:
Step 1: Select participants will receive an email with details to conduct a surveillance test on specific days.
Step 2: On the day for their test, participants should visit one of community screening collection sites on the campus where they reside or work.
Step 3: Participants should arrive at the test site with their DukeCard ID or phone with the SymMon app (be sure you have the latest version). You will use your SymMon app to scan your test kit or a site coordinator will scan your DukeCard ID and provide you with a test kit.

Step 4: Testing will be self-administered and should only take about 5 minutes to complete.
Testing will involve inserting a cotton swab into each nasal passage and rotating it against the inner nasal lining in a circle three times. The swab does not need to be inserted far – just enough so the cotton tip is no longer visible.
The swab is then placed into a collection tube with a bar code, which will be placed in a bag and then deposited into a cooler at the collection site.
That’s it.
Pooled testing of samples will be conducted by the Duke Human Vaccine Institute. Results from tests typically take about 48 hours. You will only be contacted if the results are positive for COVID-19, at which point you will receive further medical guidance and support.
Surveillance Test Sites
Testing sites and times are listed below from Monday, April 5 – Friday, April 9. Hours of operation are typically 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., with exceptions listed below:
West Campus:
- Penn Pavilion: Assembly Room 102
- Perkins Library: Conference Room 153
- Levine Science Research Center: Lobby 100
- McClendon Tower: Lounge 4T101
- The Hollows: B
- Bryan Center: Theater Lobby 103
- Conference Center at Washington Duke Inn, President’s Ballroom
7 a.m. – 6 p.m.
East Campus:
- Brodie Memorial Gym: Multi-purpose Room 149
- East Union/Marketplace: Classroom 200
- Gilbert Addoms Residence Hall: Commons 002
Medical Campus:
- Inter-professional Education and Care Building: Physical Therapy Clinic
Noncompliance
Students are required to complete surveillance testing on days in which they are requested to do so. Students not completing this requirement will be referred to the Office of Student Conduct or their Graduate/Professional Program. Students who miss testing may lose their ability to access campus facilities.
Contacts for Student Questions
Undergraduates: Undergraduates with questions should email keeplearning@duke.edu
Graduate & Professional Students: If you have received this message and don’t plan to be in Durham for the spring semester, please contact your program (see list of names/emails below) and ask to be removed from the baseline and surveillance testing processes.
If you fail to report for testing on your scheduled date, your DukeCard will remain inactive (with the exception of students who have been approved to access clinical and research settings) until you are tested, and your name will be reported to your program leadership.
School | Compliance Contacts | Emails |
Fuqua | Fuqua Testing Team | testing@fuqua.duke.edu |
Sanford | Linda Lytvinenko | linda.lytvinenko@duke.edu |
Law | Suze Bear | bear@law.duke.edu |
Pratt | Shundrell Spann | shundrell.spann@duke.edu |
NSOE | Nancy Kelly | nkelly@duke.edu |
Divinity | Cathy Watson | cwatson@div.duke.edu |
SON | Bebe Mills | bebe.mills@duke.edu |
SOM | Karen Tesoriero | karen.tesoriero@duke.edu |
SOM – Basic Science MS and PhD students | Beth Sullivan | OBGE@duke.edu |
The Graduate School – does not include Basic Science MS and PhD students | Helene McAdams | grad-surveillance-testing@duke.edu |
FAQs: Surveillance Testing During Semester
FAQs: Graduate/Professional Student Testing Protocols for Spring Semester 2021
Testing for Symptomatic or Exposed Individuals During the Semester
Any student, faculty, or staff member who becomes symptomatic or is referred by either Employee Health or Student Health will be tested at one of five local testing sites, two of which are located on Duke’s campus.
Isolation for COVID-Positive Students
Students who test positive will be placed in isolation on campus.
- Isolation is for students who have already been diagnosed positive with COVID-19.
- Isolated students will be under the care of Duke clinicians during an isolation window.
- A Duke clinician will determine when a student’s isolation period is complete. The average time spent in isolation is 14 days.
- For students in Duke-provided housing, isolated students will be moved to East House, Jarvis, or The Lodge near Duke Hospital.
- If isolated, students should not leave their assigned rooms other than to take strolls outside to get air. Meals will be delivered.
Contact tracing will be used to identify other potential positive cases.