New COVID-19 clusters reported at NC State fraternity and sorority
N.C. State University reported a new COVID-19 outbreak Sunday in the Greek Village in a campus-wide alert.
A cluster of 28 cases was found at the Delta Zeta Sorority house and another cluster of 13 cases was found at the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity house, the school reported Sunday evening. Sororities and fraternities have accounted for most of the 11 clusters at the university, including four clusters reported on Friday.
The state defines a cluster as five or more cases in close proximity.
The outbreaks prompted the university to announce it would shift to remote classes for undergraduates starting Monday. Students are not being asked to move out of residence halls to reduce their occupancy.
As of Saturday, the state Health and Human Services Department reports 15% of the state’s total coronavirus caseload is among people aged 18 to 24.
Students placed in isolation
The university says all students who test positive as part of these clusters will be isolated. All residents of the Greek organization houses with clusters are being quarantined.
On its COVID-19 dashboard, the school reports 270 students and 41 employees have tested positive and 892 people are in isolation. But the dashboard was updated only through Thursday.
N.C. State Chancellor Randy Woodson said Thursday that off-campus activity is to blame for the decision to shift to online classes. The off-campus activities are “inconsistent with our community standards and have had an impact on our ability to go forward,” he told reporters at an afternoon press conference.
“What I would say is that the behavior of the few has jeopardized the ability for us to go forward for all of our students in a way that many of our students wanted us to,” he said.
This story was originally published August 23, 2020 at 6:24 PM with the headline "New COVID-19 clusters reported at NC State fraternity and sorority."
