More than 500 COVID-19 cases reported on Alabama campus

[ASTalumna06]

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireSt...e_hero_related

MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- 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 officials 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 staff 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. Nearly 30,000 students took the entry tests, and 310 were found to be positive. But subsequent testing found hundreds more cases.

“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,” 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.

.....

Auburn University has also seen an uptick in cases since students returned to campus on Aug. 17, according to numbers released by the university.

The university reported that 202 students and five employees at the main Auburn campus tested positive for COVID-19 between Aug. 15 and Aug. 21. Since mid-March, there have been 545 cases among students and staff, although most of those individuals were not on campus before August because they were attending classes remotely or working remotely, according to the university site.