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Oklahoma sorority isolated after 23 women test positive for coronavirus

Posted at 2:04 PM, Aug 17, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-17 14:04:57-04

STILLWATER, Okla. — At Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, officials on Monday confirmed 23 positive cases of COVID-19 at an off-campus sorority house.

All of the students living in the house were placed in isolation and are prohibited from leaving the facility, the university said in a statement.

“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 university wrote. “One member of the sorority who lives elsewhere is among those who tested positive and will also remain in isolation.”

All involved are being monitored by OSU and the Payne County Health Department. The school says contact tracing is also being conducted to further protect the community.

The confirmed cases come after a video was widely circulated over the weekend, showing dozens of maskless students packed into a nightclub in the college town.

“As a student, I’m frustrated as hell,” said Ryan Novozinsky, an OSU junior from Allentown, New Jersey, and the editor of the student newspaper. “These are people I have to interact with.

OSU has a combination of in-person and online courses, and students, staff and faculty are required to wear masks indoors and outdoors where social distancing isn’t possible.