By EMRY DINMAN

Staff Writer

OLYMPIA — Washington colleges and universities will be responsible for providing isolation and quarantine facilities to students living in dorms, Greek system houses and off-campus congregate houses, as well as personnel if they don’t have a place to go, Gov. Jay Inslee announced Tuesday at a press conference.

The announcement is one of a number of rule changes targeted at stemming the spread of coronavirus on college campuses amid high-profile outbreaks in Pullman and Seattle in recent weeks. Colleges that fail to enforce the guidelines could face penalties, Inslee said.

“This is a direct requirement Washington is requiring of these facilities,” Inslee said Tuesday. “It is a direct requirement, and we have numerous enforcement tools.”

While institutions need to have a plan in place to respond to infected students, students can still be charged for the isolation facilities, Inslee added.

Inslee also said Tuesday that activities inside of dorms and other school congregate settings would need to be further restricted. Residents of dorms and house sleeping rooms will be required to wear masks at all times while in the facilities, and no more than two people will be allowed per sleeping room. No more than five people from outside of a house can visit at any one time, and in all cases, masks must be worn and physical distancing observed, according to the new guidelines.

In addition, all meals served on campus or in any residential facilities must either be grab-and-go or with no more than one person at a table.

Representatives for Big Bend Community College, which has residential facilities on campus, did not respond to a request for comment.