By Jason Tayer
Various states within the U.S. have taken extreme caution, little caution, and everything in between when it comes to controlling the spreading of COVID-19. As Summer came around, certain states began to open many more businesses and public areas, including bars, restaurants, parks, etc.
These policies, coupled with many citizens yearning to return back to “normal” life, led to a specific group of students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama purposely trying to catch the virus and spread it further. ABC News reports that a number of students, already tested positive for COVID-19, have been organizing parties to “intentionally infect each other with the contagion that has killed more than 127,000 people in the United States.” These students have orchestrated a sort of game where they put money in a pot and whoever contracts the virus wins the money at the end. WAVY News calls this activity playing “Russian Roulette” with the health of these students. Tuscaloosa’s Fire Chief Randy Smith spoke out about this reckless behavior and the Alabama Department of Public Health has reiterated that those tested positive for the virus should remain quarantined for at least 14 days, or else they are subject to violations up to $500.
Since these parties have been reoccurring for several weeks, the state of Alabama has confirmed 10,000 new cases in the past 14 days, which is an alarming amount, considering the fact that there have been a total of approximately 38,000 confirmed cases since March. In this sense, there is a clear correlation between the presence of these coronavirus parties and a huge lump of new confirmed cases in the past two weeks. The CDC denotes the United States as a country with widespread ongoing transmission, and specifically, WHNT News admits that Alabama’s cases have doubled ever since the stay-at-home order was lifted on May 1st. For this reason, it is crucial that all citizens social distance, positively tested citizens quarantine themselves, and students refrain from spreading the virus in any way, especially in the case of parties.
