COLUMBIA, S.C. — Some students at the University of South Carolina said they aren't surprised after two sorority houses are under quarantine because of COVID-19.
The two houses were placed under quarantine after learning several students tested positive for the coronavirus.
"I expected it, I knew something like that was going to happen," student Alexander Rishmawi said. "I'm just glad we haven't got sent home yet."
"I think that it's kind of inevitable that people are going to get sick," freshman Belle Auble said.
On Tuesday, the university announced they learned several students tested positive for COVID-19 and said the impacted students were either asymptomatic or experiencing minor symptoms.
Auble recently went through sorority recruitment but said she still feels safe on campus.
"Everyone I talked to is aware that it's a risk, but we all still want to stay in school and do everything we can to keep others in the community safe," Auble said.
On the university website there is an campus case tracker, test results and other resources on COVID-19.
According to the website, as of August 20, 39% of undergrads are taking only online courses and 61% of students are in person or hybrid. Since August 1, close to 5,000 students have been tested.
"It's definitely a different experience from what I imagined my freshman year to be," student Cole Prosik said. "It's actually really not that bad once you get used to it. The first couple of days it was kind of annoying because you would forget your mask and then have to go back, but it's just a nice habit to have."
According to the university, as of August 26 there are 46 total active cases on campus. Only two of those are employees, 44 are students.
As some of the students are still getting their class schedules in order, many just hope they can finish out the semester on campus.
"I'm not really sure what's going to happen, it's hard to predict," Rishmawi said.
Other schools in the area such as Benedict College said they've tested every student, staff and faculty member and students who tested positive were not permitted to come to campus. Since their campus opened, three weeks ago, a total of four positive COVID-19 cases have been identified.
At Allen University, officials said all faculty and students were tested prior to coming back on campus. Testing is mandatory and will continue every two weeks. The university also has a zero-tolerance mask policy. As of August 26, no students or faculty with Allen University have tested positive for COVID-19.