Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox says an executive order closing bars for 14 days came at the request of University of Alabama officials.

The announcement revealing the new executive order was made at a joint press conference Monday with University of Alabama President Stuart Bell and Dean of College of Community Health Services Ricky Friend. Bars were ordered to close for two weeks, and bar services at restaurants has been suspended as well.

Officials say the decision was made to suspend bar services in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the novel Coronavirus. The University of Alabama released its COVID-19 testing results Monday, noting that 531 positive cases had been recorded in the past five days.

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox joined 95.3 The Bear's Steve Shannon Morning Show Tuesday to discuss the closures and the City of Tuscaloosa's response to COVID-19. Maddox revealed that his executive order came at the request of University of Alabama officials.

The full audio of the interview is below.

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