Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties in the city and surrounding area as part of what is being described as a disturbing contest to see who can catch the virus first, a city council member told ABC News on Wednesday.

Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students have been organizing “COVID parties” as a game to intentionally infect each other with the contagion that has killed more than 127,000 people in the United States. She said she recently learned of the behavior and informed the city council of the parties occurring in the city.

She said the organizers of the parties are purposely inviting guests who have COVID-19.

“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 Fire Chief Randy Smith told the City Council on Tuesday that he has confirmed the students’ careless behavior.

In a briefing to the City Council, Smith expressed concern that in recent weeks there have been parties held throughout the city and surrounding Tuscaloosa County, “where students, or kids, would come in with known positive,” according to a video recording of the meeting obtained by ABC affiliate station WBMA in Birmingham.

“We thought that was kind of a rumor at first,” Smith told the council members. “We did some research. Not only do the doctors’ offices confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information.”

In his presentation, Smith, who wore a face mask, did not say what is being done to curb the behavior or what schools the students were from. Tuscaloosa is the seventh-largest city in Alabama and home to The University of Alabama and several other colleges.

Just hours after Smith’s briefing, the City Council unanimously passed an ordinance requiring people to wear face coverings when out in public.

On Wednesday, Holly Whigham, a spokesperson for the fire department, told ABC News, “We are not releasing any statements about what was said last night.”

It was unclear if the COVID-positive students infected anyone at the parties they attended.

Richard Rush, a city spokesman, said in a statement to ABC News that the city “is currently working with local agencies and organizations to ensure that we do everything in our power to fight this pandemic.”

McKinstry said she fears that some people will attend the parties not knowing their intent and be exposed to infected guests.

“We’re trying to break up any parties that we know of,” McKinstry told ABC News, adding the infected students are obviously disregarding guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to self-quarantine for two weeks.

Arrol Sheehan, spokesperson for the Alabama Department of Public Health, said the state’s “Safer at Home Order” explicitly states that people who test positive “shall be quarantined to their place of residence for a period of 14 days.”

Sheehan stressed that violation of the heath order is a misdemeanor and fines for each violation can be up to $500.

“Suspected violations of the home quarantine order should be reported to law enforcement and the local health department,” she said in a statement to ABC News.

As of Wednesday, Alabama had recorded 38,422 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 10,696 in the last 14 days, according to data provided by the state Department of Public Health. At least 947 people have died in Alabama from the virus.

In Tuscaloosa County, 2,049 people had contracted the contagion and 38 deaths had occurred in the county, according to the Department of Public Health.

Word of the COVID parties came on the same day Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey announced she is extending the “Safer at Home” orders through July 31 because coronavirus infections continue to rise.

“Personal responsibility means it is everyone’s responsibility,” Ivy said at a news conference. “If we continue going in the wrong direction, and our hospitals are not able to handle the capacity of patients, then we’re going to reserve the right to come back in and reverse course.”

Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris, who joined Ivy at the news conference, urged people to wear face coverings although they are not required statewide.

“We know face coverings aren’t perfect and they don’t stop everything,” Harris said. “But they do limit transmission.”

23 thoughts on “Alabama Students Throwing Parties To Infect Classmates”
  1. I believe our schools are teaching the kids the wrong stuff. How much is this costing us and how many kids must die before they wise up.

    1. The Liberal left Teachers in the public schools are the ones that promote and encourage the kids to do stupid crap like this for not only political reasons but also the teachers get paid to stay home during the closings! The schools are teaching kids to be Homosexual and Islam acceptance instead of real courses that are needed to make it in life and in turn Slowing Down the maturity rate DRASTICALLY! This is why a High School Senior acts like a 12 year old throwing a tantrum if you tell them NO on anything! Young, Violent, and old enough to Vote is the only way the Democrats have a chance in 2020 and have RUINED AN ENTIRE GENERATION to gain Power! It’s Absolutely Sickening!

    2. Too sad they will take that home to mom and dad and maybe grandma and grandpa and maybe their siblings.It will be even more sad if they recover but the other family members do not. Just remember you stupid students that do not deserve to go to school that you killed them.

  2. Are these students living at home with Mom, Dad, grand parents? If so, they are truly selfish, brain dead idiots. They go home and potentially infect the most venerable. All the students infected by attending one of those parties should be quarantined in the home of the student throwing the party. Aren’t the parents of those students even worried about the spread of the virus?

    1. I say let them . One way to get rid of the stupid people . This is better then them blocking streets and getting their ass ran over for being so damn stupid in the first place . They should be studying for tests for better grades . Instead they waste daddy money doing stupid shit like this . So go ahead have your party . That means my kids have a better chance of landing higher paying jobs then your dumb ass’s . Companies want smart people working for them , not dumb ass’s like these idiots . Unless they will be working for daddy doing nothing cause they were to damn stupid to study .

  3. If anyone attending these parties get critically sick and die from this horrible illness, they should be arrested and held responsible. Charges of endangerment or attempted murder or murder should be filed!!!

  4. Don’t tell me Democrats have not indoctrinated these young people. How “SICk” sick can they get?

  5. These stupid kids, don’t seem to understand the seriousness of what they are doing ! If they Do catch the virus, and bring it home to their parents, or grandparents, and one or more DIE, how funny does this stupid game seem after that ! It is SO selfish of these students !

  6. Bunch of clueless idiots. There was also a case of a church group holding a “Release Party” where a 19 year-old died from Covid-19.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/07/07/florida-carsyn-davis-coronavirus/

    Instead of following the guidelines set by medical authorities who understand the evolving science, these kids and their idiot parents probably believe the imbecile-in-chief who tells people that the coronavirus will “just disappear” and to drink bleach in the meantime if they have symptoms. Ignorance and stupidity have become virtues in Trump-land.

    1. I don’t wish anyone dead just because they are stupid — look how many de-moo-crat congressmen/women get elected by idiots who continue to replay lies, including those told by Dr. FALSI (who together with CDC sent 3.1 $milli to the Wuhan lab AFTER they were identified as having inadequate safeguards, and who also co-incidentally has “stock’ in the Ramsv. vaccine along with Gates and Soros and Clinton. It is no wonder our young people can’t reason out how to protect themselves.

    2. You read the Washington post. That says it all. CNN fan as well lol. Trump is far from being the idiot.

  7. It breaks my heart to see this happen in my college town of Tuscaloosa. I am glad Coach Bryant in not alive to see this happening. Our Crisson Tide is our legacy and we are staining that legacy with stupid behavior. What happened to our pride, love and dedication to our university? I will ALWAYS love my alma mater no matter what happens because I will remember the pride we have for our college.

  8. THese “children” are very wise: They have cottoned onto the fact that Covid-19 is not only not infectious but also, to all intents and purposes, non-existent.
    Time for the “adults” to wake up and take a look at reality.

    Blessed be
    Karma Singh

    1. It’s time for you to take your head out of your ass and take a look at reality. The evidence is there for anyone who can read.

  9. Hope they ALL get infected and DIE ! Maybe you should invite Nasty PISSalocie also.

  10. The late Judge Antonin Scalia pointed out that action, even if there is consent, can have serious legal consequences, even charges of Serious Injury or Murder, depending on the end-result. Scalia spoke about sexual contact when suffering from AIDS. The same would, of course, apply here:
    As in the consensual sex-act between twp persons of whom one is carrying the HIV-virus, students taking part in such parties would be consenting, even to be infected …. and to die?
    Whichever the case, there is no consent to mutilation or causing death – not even as self-mutilation!
    Whoever initiates or organizes such a meeting is committing a serious crime against one, resp. several persons, and can expect long terms of prison for it.

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