|
The University of South Carolina has reported more than 1,000 students who have tested positive for the virus and are currently active cases. The figures, made available on the universityâs Covid-19 dashboard, include a nearly 28 percent positive test rate for students between Aug. 28 and 31.
The campus community, according to the dashboard, âis strongly encouraged to increase behaviors related to physical distancing, face coverings, hand washing and reducing unnecessary social interaction. The university will increase testing, contact tracing, environmental monitoring and facility cleaning.â
The university, which has about 35,000 students, took action earlier this week against more than a dozen of them as well as several Greek life organizations that administrators said recently hosted parties or large gatherings.
The university announced that 15 students had been placed under interim suspension and that six Greek houses had been charged with student conduct violations stemming from the parties, which officials said violated emergency orders in Columbia, S.C.
The action came as nearly half of the fraternity and sorority chapter houses in the universityâs Greek Village â nine of 20 â were placed under a 14-day quarantine after some students in them tested positive, administrators said.
Hundreds of students were also photographed carousing without masks at a crowded pool party on Saturday near the university, in an event that the Columbia Fire Department broke up, the newspaper The State reported.
|
