Alabama students throwing 'covid parties' to see who gets sick, officials say
College students in Tuscaloosa, Ala., who tested positive for the coronavirus have been attending parties in that area as part of a perplexing and unwise contest to see who will be the first to contract covid-19, according to an ABC News report.
Tuscaloosa is the seventh-largest city in the state and home to The University of Alabama and several other colleges.
City Councilwoman Sonya McKinstry told ABC that the students have been throwing “covid parties” in attempt to purposely infect one another with the new virus that has killed more than 128,000 people in the United States.
Hosts are intentionally inviting folks who have covid-19, she said.
“They put money in a pot and they try to get covid. Whoever gets covid first gets the pot. It makes no sense,” McKinstry said. “They’re intentionally doing it.”
Tuscaloosa students diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties as part of a disturbing contest to see who can catch the virus first, a city council member says. https://t.co/jTAafPMmru
— ABC News (@ABC) July 1, 2020
Tuscaloosa fire Chief Randy Smith confirmed the students’ reckless behavior.
“We thought that it was kind of a rumor at first,” Smith said during Tuesday’s council meeting. “We did some research. Not only do the doctors’ offices confirm it, but the state confirmed they also had the same information.”
Smith’s statements during the meeting didn’t make clear what steps, if any, were going to be put in place to curb the activity.
Hours after Smith’s briefing, council unanimously passed an ordinance that requires people wear face coverings when in public, ABC reported.
Wearing face coverings has been suggested by state officials, but it hasn’t been mandated.
In the past two weeks, Alabama recorded just under 10,700 covid-19 cases — nearly 28% of the state’s overall total of more than 38,400 as of Wednesday. At least 947 people have died from the virus in Alabama.
Tuscaloosa County accounted for 2,049 cases with 38 deaths, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
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