Oklahoma State University in Stillwater is reporting 23 positive cases of Covid-19 among a sorority.
The Stillwater News-Press reports that university officials learned Friday night of the cases at the Pi Beta Phi sorority house.
"Due to the nature of this situation, the entire chapter house is in isolation or quarantine and will be prohibited from leaving the facility," a university news release says.
The 23 new cases are unrelated to the 22 positive cases among the 3,049 test results from the on-campus intake reported Friday.
More test results could emerge in the coming days, Oklahoma State Vice President of Student Affairs Doug Hallenback says. As of Friday, 4,100 people had checked in to live on campus, and more are expected. The university has around 5,100 total contracts for people to move in.
For now, the university is still planning on beginning classes next week
“We designed it so every class should have an online option for students,” Hallenback says. “In this case, those that are either sick or have been exposed and the Payne County Health Department says they need to quarantine, they’ll be able to start classes just like everybody else as long as they’re well enough.”
Hallenback says the university expected to have students test positive.
"We had a plan in place, we’ve been working on it for five months and now it’s just working the plan," he says. "On the positive side, people were identified, now they’re being isolated so they can get well, get negative and resume."
