Duke announces week-long stay-at-home order for undergrads starting at midnight Saturday

Duke says the goal of the stay-in-place period is to stop the spread of COVID among the undergraduate population as quickly as possible.

"This action is necessary to contain the rapidly escalating number of COVID cases among Duke undergraduates, which is principally driven by students attending recruitment parties for selective living groups. Over the past week more than 180 students are in isolation for a positive COVID-19 test, and an additional 200 students are in quarantine as a result of contact tracing. This is by far the largest one-week number of positive tests and quarantines since the start of the pandemic," Duke said in a statement.

The University says it will continue to monitor the situation and will share an update on Thursday, March 18.