A frat house at the University of Washington has seen at least 66 members test positive for COVID-19. ABC News reports:
At least 66 University of Washington fraternity members have tested positive for COVID-19: 62 house residents and four who don’t live in a frat house.
The school’s student-led fraternity board, Interfraternity Council, said that at least 105 residents in 15 campus fraternities self-reported they were positive, but the school is still investigating these cases and any possible unreported cases.
“While we were pleased to see most of the houses had previously taken measures to reduce resident capacity by up to 50% this summer in response to COVID-19, those measures are not sufficient without vigilant, daily preventive measures, such as wearing face coverings, physical distancing and hand hygiene,” said Dr. Geoffrey Gottlieb, chair of the UW Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases.
UW Medicine has set up a testing facility on campus within walking distance of the Greek houses. The students who have tested positive or have experienced coronavirus-like symptoms are isolating in their rooms, and none have been hospitalized or experienced severe symptoms, according to the school’s website.
There are currently about 1,000 students living in 25 fraternity houses at the north of the UW campus. The residents of the houses are being asked to quarantine or self-isolate amid the outbreak.