Are Alabama students throwing COVID parties to intentionally get infected?

Question

It was reported recently in several places that students are throwing COVID parties in Alabama, and betting on getting infected first. As far as I can tell ABC News is the original source for this:

Students in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 have been attending parties in the city and surrounding area as part of a disturbing contest to see who can catch the virus first, a city council member told ABC News on Wednesday.

Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students have been organizing "COVID parties" as a game to intentionally infect each other with the contagion that has killed more than 127,000 people in the United States. She said she recently learned of the behavior and informed the city council of the parties occurring in the city.

She said the organizers of the parties are purposely inviting guests who have COVID-19.

"They put money in a pot and they try to get COVID. Whoever gets COVID first gets the pot. It makes no sense," McKinstry said. "They're intentionally doing it."

The article is based on the statements of the city councilor and the fire chief. But there are no actual details about what evidence they are basing their claims on. Is there any evidence apart from the claims of those public officials that these kinds of parties are happening? Are there any records of such parties discovered, or broken up by the police, or people fined for breaking quarantine orders to attend such parties?

Answer 1

There might be joke or troll posts online claiming these parties exist but there is no hard evidence.

Sonya McKinstry "said she heard about the trend from fire officials".

• Young people are throwing coronavirus parties with a payout when one gets infected, official says - CNN

Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith told the City Council on Tuesday that he has confirmed the students' careless behavior. ... "We thought that was kind of a rumor at first," Smith told the council members. "We did some research. Not only do the doctors' offices confirm it but the state confirmed they also had the same information."

• Alabama students throwing 'COVID parties' to see who gets infected: Officials - ABC News

Lengthier quote from fire chief:

Tuscaloosa fire chief Randy Smith told the city council that his department had heard about parties “where students or kids would come in with known positives.” It sounded like just a rumor, Smith said, but “not only did the doctors’ offices help confirm it, but the state also confirmed they had the same information.” You’ll notice immediately that Smith didn’t say anything about people trying to get sick, let alone betting on who could do it first. So why is everyone saying that’s what happened?

• ‘Covid Parties’ Are Not a Thing - Wired

"State Health Officer Scott Harris said he had seen the news story about the reported parties, but could not officially confirm it."

Dr. Ramesh Peramsetty, a local physician, was quoted by the Tuscaloosa News as saying that there had been rumors of parties for about a month. “While my nursing staff was triaging patients for COVID-19 swabbing, they were told about the COVID-19 house parties and were even shown videos of the parties by college students,” Peramsetty said. “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.”

• Officials: Students in Alabama threw COVID contest parties - AP News
• Cases rise in youth amid reports of ‘COVID parties’ - Tuscaloosa News (inaccessible in the EU)

The University of Alabama claims to have investigated and found nothing.

We have been aware for weeks of the rumors about COVID 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.

• Statement Concerning COVID Gathering Rumors - The University of Alabama

To my knowledge, at the time of writing, no-one has produced any evidence such as invites, tickets, or students.

---

In May, Walla Walla County in Washington State had similar rumors:

Walla Walla County has walked back their previous statements about COVID-19 “parties” taking place in the area. ... Late Wednesday, the county walked back their initial statements saying that they now believe the parties were innocent gatherings.

The state Department of Health is still alarmed by these types of reports, in Bellevue a number of KIRO 7 viewers reported spotting a similar offer for a “play date” with three contagious children recently posted on Nextdoor.

“I have three young kids who are currently contagious,” the post read. “If you would like your kids immunized, let me know and we can make arrangements for a play date.”

"Just can't be possible, others thought it was a joke,” said neighbor Heija, who told us the post was later removed. "This is not something to be trifled with and it certainly isn't an experiment to do with your kids."

• Officials walk back statements on reported ‘COVID-19 parties’ held in Walla Walla County to spread virus - KIRO7 Local New Television