COVID strikes SIU sorority house

More than a dozen SIU students reportedly are under mandatory quarantine in their College Street sorority house after one member tested positive for COVID-19.

Cindy Menges, national executive director for Delta Zeta, said Thursday that 14 residents are in seclusion at the Delta Zeta house in Carbondale after one member, who doesn't live in the house, tested positive for the virus. Menges said the quarantine period began Wednesday.

The news comes just days into the fall semester at SIU, which has opened for in-person learning. Last week, the university launched a webpage to report weekly active cases of the virus in students, faculty and staff. On Wednesday, the university reported active cases among three on-campus students, two off-campus students and one faculty member.

Bart Hagston, administrator at the Jackson County Health Department, said that in order for an incident to be considered an "outbreak," it must include two or more linked positive cases. Hagston said there are no such outbreaks right now at any SIU fraternity or sorority houses.

To date, there have been almost 900 cases of the virus identified in Jackson County, including 21 deaths.