SEATTLE — Several dozen students living in fraternity houses near the University of Washington’s campus have tested positive for COVID-19, the university announced on Friday.
As of Friday, the university reported at least 38 students in 10 fraternity houses have tested positive in the Greek Row neighborhood north of the university.
Public Health Seattle – King County is leading the response in coordination with the students. The health department is working with the university to ensure Greek Row residents and others who visited the houses are actively working to contain the outbreak.
“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,” Dr. Geoffrey Gottlieb, chair of the UW Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases said.
Leaders of the affected fraternities said the students who have tested positive or have COVID-like symptoms are isolating in their rooms and none of the students have been hospitalized.
Officials said no one has been hospitalized or reported severe symptoms.
“It’s definitely a little nerve-racking,” said UW Graduate Renee Ventura who knows people involved with UW Greek life and lives in the neighborhood. “Everyone who I live with is taking extra precautions, we’re all going and getting tested this week. A lot of people who I know who are living in and around the fraternities are also taking precautions and getting tested.”
KOMO
There are currently 1,000 students living in 25 fraternity houses in the Greek Row neighborhood north of the university’s campus. The university says the residents of these houses are being asked to quarantine if they’ve tested positive or have COVID-like symptoms or self-isolate if they may have been exposed.
UW officials say the outbreak is concerning and reminds us that outbreaks can quickly spiral, said Dr. Geoffrey Gottlieb, chair of the UW Advisory Committee on Communicable Diseases, which is involved in the response to the outbreak.
“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,” Gottlieb said in a news release. “If we don’t, measures such as what are now required on Greek Row will be inevitable. My sense is all students want to return to some sense of normalcy, so I urge all of us to follow public health guidelines so we can do just that.”
In total, 74 students, 7 faculty, and 32 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus at the university’s Seattle campus.
Health experts like Dr. Ali Mokdad with UW’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation say young adults need to double down on Covid-19 prevention as cases being driven by young people spike.
“Young adults are more likely to be asymptomatic and not have severe symptoms,” said Dr. Mokdad."That’s why we’re concerned. We’re seeing an increasing cases among the young generation, young adults.”
For more on the trend in King County CLICK HERE.
Neighbors say they’re not surprised to hear about the outbreak.
“I have seen people they’re just living their normal life and many times they just party and enjoy,” said neighbor Jay Vijanjit.
Some say it underscores the importance of masks and social distancing.
“I think a lot of young people and just people in general who aren’t taking precautions and educating themselves, they don’t want to take the steps required to keep the people in our community safe and that is nerve wracking,” said Ventura.
UW Medicine has set up a testing facility on campus within walking distance of the Greek houses to make it as easy as possible for students to get tested.
Officials said students who live in or near Greek houses should contact the UW Environmental Health & Safety Department (covidehc@uw.edu) if they have tested positive for COVID-19 or suspect they have been infected.
Public health officials are reminding everyone to wear face coverings in public spaces, keep 6 feet of distance whenever possible, and wash their hands frequently.
Last week, King County said they are starting to see an increase in positive coronavirus cases among 20 to 39 year old’s.
Bruh...it's up to 120+ now
121 University of Washington students test positive for Covid-19
More than a hundred students at University of Washington fraternity houses in Seattle have tested positive for Covid-19, the university said Sunday.
www.cnn.com
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