2 Weeks After First Home Game, New COVID Cases at UA Still Low

New COVID-19 cases among the student population at the University of Alabama remained low this week, and for the second week in a row cases continued to climb at UAB.

According to figures released Friday on the UA System COVID-19 Dashboard, 34 students in Tuscaloosa tested positive for the virus from October 9th through the 15th, the second-lowest number of new weekly cases since classes resumed two months ago. Nine faculty and staff members in Tuscaloosa tested positive during the same time period, another near-record low.

The relatively low number of new cases bodes well after weeks of wondering how the Crimson Tide's first home football game would affect the spread of the virus. Two weeks after Alabama took on Texas A&M at Bryant-Denny Stadium, UA has seen no spike in new cases.

At the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the trend is moving in the other direction -- 64 UAB Students tested positive for the virus last week, up from 49 new cases in the first week of October, setting back-to-back record highs for that campus.

John Jones, the Vice President of Student Affairs at UAB, blamed the increase in cases on off-campus activities.

"COVID-19 cases have increased among UAB students primarily as a result of large and small off-campus gatherings at houses, apartments and bars/clubs, putting our campus community at risk," Jones said in a letter. "As outlined in our Student Code of Conduct, students cannot engage in behavior that endangers the welfare of the community. Until further notice, escalated sanctions will be applied for violating restrictions for off-campus gatherings."

At the University of Alabama in Huntsville, just three students tested positive last week.

At UA, 13 of 518 rooms designated for the isolation and quarantine of students with the virus were occupied last week. 19 of 100 were in use at UAB, and 1 of 87 was taken at UAH.