More than 500 COVID19 cases reported on Alabama campus

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The University of Alabama has recorded 531 cases of COVID-19 on campus since the fall semester began last week, according to numbers the university system released Tuesday as o cials try to clamp down on student parties, bars and other gatherings that could spread the coronavirus.

The university, which issued a 14-day moratorium on student gatherings last week, released the number of students, faculty and sta testing positive a day after Tuscaloosa’s mayor ordered bars closed.

The university had earlier announced that initial results from a testing program found few students returning to campus on Aug. 19 were positive for COVID-19 but said subsequent testing last week found more cases. Nearly 30,00 students took the entry tests.

“However, over the past week, due to student behavior, we have seen a spike in the number of students who have sought re-testing because they became symptomatic or were exposed to a COVID-positive individual. That trend prompted the decision to take further steps to reduce the chance that the COVID- 19 virus will escalate dramatically,” Dr. Selwyn Vickers, dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Medicine and co-chair of the university system’s Health and Safety Task Force, said in a statement.

On Monday, the mayor of Tuscaloosa ordered bars closed for the next two weeks after University of Alabama o cials described an “unacceptable” rise in COVID-19 cases that could jeopardize plans to continue the semester on campus.