Kids these days have been known to take part in a lot of mind-boggling challenges. But when it comes to all the unsettling things teens are doing these days, the latest is probably the hardest to make sense of — that's because the newest thing, at least for some students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, is throwing COVID-19 parties to try to get sick.
Yup. That's right. While most people are pretty concerned with the danger of contracting the coronavirus — not just for themselves but for the potential of infecting others — these students are intentionally trying to get COVID-19. It seems like the kids think it's a fun game, and it also comes with a cash prize.
The students have reportedly been attending parties in and around the city as part of the disturbing new trend. As Tuscaloosa city councilor Sonya McKinstry told ABC News, students have been organizing "COVID parties" as a game to intentionally infect each other.
The coronavirus has killed more than 127,000 people in the United States.
Teenagers are known to do a lot of foolish things, but this one is really hard to understand. The trend is so dangerous, but what the kids don't seem to understand is that even if they contract the illness and recover quickly, they are taking part in worsening the spread of the virus. Also, they could potentially infect people they love, and those people might not have an easy recovery and could suffer serious complications or even die.
The occurrence of these parties is incredibly worrisome. Especially because the students seem to fully understand that younger people fare a lot better with the illness. They're using that fact to turn contracting the virus into a game. COVID parties are apparently happening all around Tuscaloosa.
City councilor Sonya McKinstry spoke to ABC about the frightening new trend in her state. She said that the hosts of the parties in Tuscaloosa aren't just chancing it. They are actually deliberately inviting people who have tested positive for the coronavirus.
"They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID," she told ABC. "Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It makes no sense. They're intentionally doing it." It's such a shocking development. As most Americans are worried about doing normal activities for fear of worsening the spread, these students are deliberately trying to get sick and spreading the illness further.
Alabama, like a lot of other states, has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. These parties can't be helping the situation, especially because recent reports show that rates of infection in 18- to 35-year-olds are up. Much of that has been attributed to young people going to parties and out to bars, seemingly unbothered by the potential for contracting the virus.
In a briefing to the city council, Fire Chief Randy Smith confirmed that the COVID parties are taking place. He said, “We thought that was kind of a rumor at first.” Then they realized that it was definitely happening. “We did some research. Not only do the doctors’ offices confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information,” he shared.
The city is trying to combat the spread of the virus even further now. And hours after Smith's briefing, the city council voted to require people to wear masks in public. Wearing face masks has been shown to help reduce transmission of the illness by about 50%.
Still, the numbers in Alabama are moving in the wrong direction. As of this writing, the state has recorded 38,422 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 10,696 in the previous 14 days, according to data provided by the state's Department of Public Health. At least 947 people have died in Alabama from the virus.
The COVID parties trend should be taken seriously. However, if they are happening in people's homes, the parties will certainly be hard to stop. Hopefully, the students partaking in these events will understand that their actions are not only irresponsible but also potentially deadly.
Councilor McKinstry is definitely worried that it will be hard to stop people who don't seem worried about the well-being of others. "It's nonsense," she said. "But I think when you're dealing with the mind frame of people who are intentionally doing stuff like that and they're spreading it intentionally, how can you truly fight something that people are constantly trying to promote?"
