SEC School Reports Enormous Jump in COVID Cases Weeks Before Football Set to Start

The University of Alabama is, in fact, a college where our young people go to receive an education – not just a staging area for one of the NCAA’s most dominating football teams.  As such, the university has had some difficult decisions to make over the course of the last few months.

The coronavirus pandemic is not over, and may not be even close to over in certain parts of the nation.  For colleges and universities, this has posed an incredible challenge, as there is still no miracle cure or treatment for the potentially deadly illness.  To further complicate the situation, college-aged Americans are not exactly the most responsible people on the planet, and their hormonal urges make it hard to keep them socially distanced when gathered in a single area.

The University of Alabama is learning this the hard way.

At least 531 students, faculty, and staff on the university’s main campus in Tuscaloosa have been infected with the virus, according to the school’s COVID-19 dashboard.

The numbers don’t include results from the entry testing conducted when the school restarted, which reportedly saw about 310 students test positive. On Monday morning, University of Alabama president Stuart Bell said that the students weren’t to blame for the increase in cases.

The entire state of Alabama seemed to be ready to spring into action, as an outbreak of COVID-19 in such a close proximity to the Crimson Tide football team could be devastating for the region.

The City of Tuscaloosa announced hours earlier that it was taking new measures to slow the spread of the virus. Mayor Walt Maddox said bars will be closed for two weeks and bar service at restaurants would be suspended, according to the paper.

“They have made tough decisions, and I appreciate Mayor Walt Maddox and The University of Alabama leadership for tackling a serious problem as quickly as possible,” said Gov. Kay Ivey in a statement.

The SEC is continuing to operate under the assumption that the 2020 NCAA football season will occur, but news such as this seem to put the entire campaign into jeopardy again.