Students in Alabama hosted COVID-19 parties where infected students were invited and there was a contest on who would get it first, according to authorities.
“The only thing we’ve seen in the past few weeks are the county-wide parties … in various places, where the students or children would come with known positives,” Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith said in a briefing. on Tuesday. .
“We thought it was a rumor at first, and then we did additional research,” he said. “Not only did the doctor’s offices help confirm it, but the state confirmed that they also had the same information.”
Smith said it has been difficult to track how many students have been infected, especially since some have out-of-state addresses and simply go to school in Alabama.
Tuscaloosa City / Facebook
Tuscaloosa City Councilwoman Sonya McKinstry told the media that the students not only intentionally invited infected people to the party. “They put money in a pot and try to get COVID. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It doesn’t make sense,” McKinstry told ABC News. “They are doing it on purpose.”
CBS News has contacted McKinstry, Smith and Mayor Walt Maddox for more information.
According to Alabama Public Health, there have been 39,604 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state. At least 2,107 of those cases are in Tuscaloosa County, and since March 13, there have been 2,835 coronavirus-related hospitalizations there. There have been 39 deaths in the county, according to the health department.
During a city council meeting Tuesday, officials passed an ordinance requiring that facial masks be worn in public to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
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