-Bascom Hall, UW Madsion

-by Matthew Cash

MADISON (WKOW) — Members of nine fraternities and sororities at UW-Madison have been ordered to quarantine at their off-campus live-in chapter houses following confirmed cases of COVID-19 among their members.

Out of about 420 members in the 9 chapters, 38 tested positive as of Sept. 2, according to a UW-Madison press release. As a precaution, all other members will be required to be tested on Sept. 8 at a university testing site.

Members who have previously tested positive within the last 90 days through a verified lab result and are not currently in isolation do not need to test or quarantine. Proof of a previous positive must be submitted to UHS at [email protected] for verification.

“Our goal is to stop any further spread of the virus among our students and the broader community,” says Jake Baggott, executive director of University Health Services. “We’re working closely with county health officials, student leaders, chapter advisors, and the housing corporations that own the chapter houses to address this quickly and thoroughly.”

A violation of isolation or quarantine order may result in a fine of up to $10,000 or a court order to comply. Failure to comply also will result in university sanctions against students who violate a quarantine directive.

Out of a total of about 5,000 students who are in Greek life, about 1,500 live in off-campus greek houses.

“Given the sheer size of some of these fraternity and sorority chapter houses, some having over 50 household members, we felt that Public Health orders were important to ensure compliance and contain the spread of COVID-19,” in a statement provided to 27 News by PHMDC.