KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The University of Kansas said Thursday morning that nearly 90 people - most of them students in the school’s fraternity and sorority communities - have tested positive for COVID-19.
In a message to the community posted Thursday morning, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod said entry test results conducted on 7,088 people returned 89 positive cases.
Of the 89 cases, 87 were students, while the other two were identified as faculty and staff.
Girod said a “large majority” of the student positives came from the fraternity and sorority communities.
“Last night, I met with leaders in these communities along with other campus officials to stress the importance of adhering to the health and safety guidelines and rules we’ve laid out while laying out some additional policy recommendations,” Girod said. “And we’ll follow up with these groups with targeted additional testing efforts as needed.”
In the letter, Girod credited the school’s staggered move-in process as helping the school to identify positive cases. He said students testing ahead of returning to campus has helped to keep those students off of campus.
Girod also noted that the percent positive rate of 1.25% was something the university expected and was prepared to deal with.
Despite that, Girod said the university is at an important point.
“If we are to open successfully and avoid moving more fully online as other universities across the country have done in recent days, all of us - students, faculty, and staff alike - will have to be the very best versions of ourselves,” Girod wrote.
Earlier this week, the Riley County, Kansas, Health Department - which coordinates testing at Kansas State University - said 13 members of the school's Greek community had tested positive for COVID-19.
