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Video: How To Use Duke’s New COVID-19 Symptom Monitoring App

Duke staff, faculty and students are encouraged to download and use the free app to complete the symptom monitoring survey

Part of the Symptom monitoring Series
Duke employees and students can download the free Duke Symptom Monitoring app to complete the mandatory daily COVID-19 symptom-monitoring form.
Duke employees and students can download the free Duke Symptom Monitoring app to complete the mandatory daily COVID-19 symptom-monitoring form.

A new mobile app is now available for all Duke staff, faculty and students to use to complete a COVID-19 symptom-monitoring survey before reporting to work on-site or coming to campus each day. 

The free Duke Symptom Monitoring app, called “SymMon,” makes it quick and easy to report any COVID-19-related symptoms. The app, developed by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) and the Duke Institute for Health Innovation (DIHI), is available on the Apple App Store and Google Play under the name “SymMon.”

Duke staff and faculty are required to complete a symptom monitoring form before arriving to work on-site each day. On days when faculty and staff are not coming to work on-site, they do not need to complete the form. Certain departments on campus have established a different process for symptom monitoring and will communicate directly with those faculty and staff members.

Undergraduate students in the area, whether living on campus or off campus in Durham County, must complete the form seven days a week. Graduate and professional students living in Durham must complete the form on any day they plan to come to campus.

Duke's symptom-monitoring form asks Duke community members to report any COVID-19 symptoms.Before downloading the new app, Duke community members should first register and complete their health profile survey in Duke's confidential REDCap system.

Through the app, Duke community members are asked to indicate whether their temperature if greater than 100.4 and report other COVID-19 symptoms such as cough, shortness of breath, runny nose/nasal congestion, fatigue, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, nausea and body aches. 

Depending on symptoms reported, the system provides a message that either clears you or tells you to stay home and call the Duke Health COVID-19 Hotline, 919-385-0429, option 1.

“We wanted to make symptom monitoring simple,” said Charley Kneifel, senior technical director of Duke OIT. “We removed the barrier of having to log onto your computer and fill out the form. Now you can complete your symptom monitoring easily before going to work or class.”

Staff, faculty and students who do not use a smartphone can still complete their symptom monitoring through an online form.

In addition to the symptom log, the “SymMon” app contains links to Duke’s COVID-19 response and phone numbers for Employee Occupational Health & Wellness, Student Wellness Center and the Duke Health COVID-19 Hotline

Office of Information Technology and the Institute for Health Innovation are working on additional features for the app, including push-alerts as daily reminders to complete the form.

Help share the proactive and extensive work being done by all Duke community members during the COVID-19 outbreak. Send ideas, shout-outs and photographs through our story idea form or write working@duke.edu.