Early this semester, students in an Emporia State fraternity had to go into quarantine due to coronavirus. Now members of an ESU sorority and a second fraternity have to do likewise.
University spokesperson Gwen Larson says the sorority affected is Alpha Sigma Alpha. The fraternity involved is Sigma Phi Epsilon. Larson says none of the houses are shut down at this time, but the students have had to make a series of adjustments.
Larson says this is indicative of the community spread that has been ongoing in Emporia and Lyon County recently.
Emporia State’s latest dashboard update has ESU at 121 total cases, with 42 active cases, four students in on-campus isolation and 10 in on-campus quarantine. There are currently no indications students have gotten COVID from being in ESU classrooms.
None of the affected houses are accepting guests or having social activity at this time. At this point, it’s unclear how many students are in quarantine or in isolation. It’s not immediately known when students started getting sick. Larson credited the students for working with university administration and Lyon County Public Health to get the quarantine process started.
Back in early September, over 10 students in Sigma Tau Gamma had to quarantine. Fraternity members also brought in an outside cleaning firm for a thorough cleaning of their house at 1309 Sylvan. That situation has been resolved. Chi Omega and Sigma Sigma Sigma, two sororities initially listed by ESU as having quarantined students at this time, actually had students affected earlier in the semester and their situations have also been resolved.
