Oklahoma State University is facing a small coronavirus outbreak after an off-campus sorority house reported 23 positive cases. As the school and the Payne County Health Department revealed in a statement, the sorority chapter is currently under lockdown, and they will be closely monitored for the foreseeable future.
"Due to the nature of this situation, the entire chapter house is in isolation or quarantine and will be prohibited from leaving the facility,” the school said in a statement. “One member of the sorority who lives elsewhere is among those who tested positive and will also remain in isolation.” Local health officials and the school will also perform contact tracing in order to slow the spread of the virus to further students.
As of Sunday, there are over 5.37 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the United States, with 47,000 of those in Oklahoma. There's been a growing concern regarding fraternities and sororities amid the pandemic, with multiple schools across the country reporting rising cases in connection with Greek life.
Last month, the Interfraternity Council announced that over 100 students living in frat houses near the University of Washington had tested positive. Also last month, the University of Southern California reported at least 40 people contracted the virus at the school's fraternity row. As NBC News reports, a large cluster of almost 400 cases in Oxford, Mississippi back in June were tied to fraternity rush parties.
