Alabama students host COVID-19 competition parties
Students in Alabama are hosting COVID-19 parties and offering payouts to guests who get infected with the virus first.
A group of young people in Alabama, USA, are said to be hosting COVID-19 house parties in a bid to see who gets infected first.
According to CNN, patients who tested positive for this global pandemic are encouraged to attend these house parties in order to spread the virus. The winner gets to "self-quarintine" with cash in their pocket which is collected during the parties in question.
"We thought that was kind of a rumor at first. We did some research, not only do the doctors' offices confirm it, but the state confirmed they also had the same information, " said City Council member Sonya McKinstry.
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The alarming number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Alabama (which currently sit at 43 000) does not seem to bother these college students who have been confirmed by their universities to be involved in such activities. Although their names were not revealed, the University of Alabama issued a statement in which it condemned such behavior and vowed to further education its students about the severity of this virus.
"We have been aware for weeks of the rumours about Covid-19 parties. We conducted a thorough investigation, and although we have been unable to identify any students who may have participated in these types of activities, we will continue to follow up on any information we receive and educate our students about essential precautions, ” the university was quoted as saying.
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Dr. Ramesh Peramsetty, who is a physician, also corroborated the reports. In recent weeks, his nursing staff have been shown videos of these house parties and also noticed a pattern when students were given their results.
“When students are called for results, we noticed that some were very excited and happy that they were positive, while others were very upset that they were negative," said Peramsetty.
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