9 Greek chapter houses at KU under quarantine orders issued by Douglas County
Douglas County health officials have issued quarantine orders for residents of nine Greek chapter houses at the University of Kansas.
In a news release, the Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health Department said it was in the process of issuing an order for a 10th chapter house. Five fraternities and five sororities would be among the 10, according to the health department.
“This is an evolving situation,” the agency said.
Earlier this week, KU reported 222 students, faculty and staff have tested positive for the virus, with a positive test rate of 1.14%. In the Greek community, people have tested positive at a rate of 5.47%, according to the university in Lawrence.
Dr. Thomas Marcellino, the county’s local health officer, said quarantine is one of the most effective ways to prevent the virus’ spread.
“Even if you are asymptomatic, it is important to comply with this directive, especially to protect those in our community who are at high risk,” he said.
The orders apply to the following chapter houses: Pi Kappa Phi, Phi Gamma Delta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Phi Kappa Psi, Gamma Phi Beta, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Chi Omega, Sigma Nu, Kappa Alpha Theta and Beta Theta Pi.
They apply to people living at the houses deemed to be “close contacts” — those who spent more than 10 minutes within six feet of a person who has tested positive back to 48 hours before the patient’s symptoms began, officials said.
Those assigned to quarantine for 14 days can do so at their permanent residence, according to the news release.
KU is testing every student, faculty and staff member for COVID-19 as they return to campus and before the beginning of on-campus activities and classes. The goal of testing is to identify and isolate positive cases, and to establish base positivity rates.
As of Wednesday, Kansas reported 39,937 infections, including more than 2,200 hospitalizations and 437 deaths. Since Monday, the state has seen an increase of more than 1,500 infections and 11 deaths.
Kansas’ positive test rate for the new coronavirus is 10.3%, making it the sixth highest in the U.S., said Lee Norman, secretary for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
This story was originally published August 26, 2020 at 9:06 PM.
