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A coronavirus breakout on the University of South Carolina campus has led to half of the greek houses being placed under quarantine, according to Newsweek. Specific names of the fraternities and sororities that were placed under quarantine have not been announced.
The university announced that nine of 20 residences in the school’s Greek village “have now been placed in quarantine after residents of those houses tested positive for the coronavirus.”
15 students have received interim suspensions for not following the terms of quarantine.
Bob Caslen, the university’s president, addressed the situation in a letter to students.
“Our total number of active cases is larger than we expected at this point, and some student behavior off campus is both disappointing and unacceptable. We are confronting these realities and taking action,” Caslen wrote.
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in the United States and China — with more than 5.72 million confirmed cases and 177,000 deaths in the United States — it has now reached many countries around the world. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
