More than 100 students at the University of Washington who live in over a dozen different fraternity houses near the school’s Seattle campus have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to CBS affiliate KIRO-TV.
The Interfraternity Council, a student group that governs fraternities at UW, announced earlier this week that at least 105 students living in 15 fraternity houses off campus have reported testing positive. The school is currently verifying these cases and has officially confirmed at least 62 positive cases among fraternity house residents, with 147 confirmed cases among students, faculty, and staff overall at its Seattle campus.
“What is occurring north of campus provides lessons for students as they consider their return to campus this fall. If everyone does their part to keep each other safe, we can continue to engage with one another and with our studies in the University environment by wearing face coverings and remaining physically distant,” Dr. Geoffrey Gottlieb, chair of the UW Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases, told the news station.
The school said earlier this week that it hopes to reopen its campus this fall, with some larger classes being held online, but concerns have emerged about how seriously the school and its students are taking safety precautions. Daniel Leifer, a pediatrician currently studying dermatology at the university, recently tweeted a picture of students on campus standing close together in a large group without masks.
“I don’t hold it against college students that they’re partying with each other and getting to know each other, because that’s everyone’s college experience. It just doesn’t make for a safe campus,” Leifer told The Seattle Times. “A lot of college reopening plans are premised on students wearing masks and social distancing. This crystallized for me that that doesn’t seem very realistic.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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