Over 1,200 students test positive for COVID-19 at University of Alabama

More than 1,200 students at the University of Alabama have tested positive for COVID-19 as of Saturday. Apart from students, over 150 employees and staff have also tested positive for coronavirus at the university.

The number of positive cases has doubled since the university published a COVID-19 dashboard. University president Stuart Bell said on Tuesday that the problem did not stem from student behaviour on campus but probably came from the community, reported local news site AL.com.

“The rise we’ve seen in recent days is unacceptable, and if unchecked, threatens our ability to complete the rest of the semester on campus,” Bell said at a press conference this week. 

The city of Tuscaloosa, which is home to the university’s main campus, announced Monday it would close bars and bar service at restaurants for the next two weeks, from August 24 to September 8. Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox said on Monday the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases will create two major disruptions for the city if left unabated.

The university has about 45,000 students across its Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville campuses making it a key test case for returning to in-person classes.

Bell has said the University of Alabama was continuing to take steps to stem the spread but wouldn’t say what it would take to move to online learning

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, which is tracking 3,000 institutions, 20% have plans for primarily in-person classes, 27 percent say they will go primarily online, 15% are opting for a hybrid and 24% haven’t announced plans.

Last week, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana announced it was moving to online instruction after a coronavirus outbreak, as did the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Michigan State.

Alabama had recorded over 122,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 2,000 deaths due to the disease.