'Covid Parties' Are Not a Thing

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17. Associated Press coverage, via Snopes:

https://www.snopes.com/ap/2020/07/02/officials-students-in-alabama-threw-covid-contest-parties/

This article is republished here with permission from The Associated Press. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Several college students in an Alabama city organized “COVID-19” parties as a contest to see who would get the virus first, an official said.

Students hosted the parties to intentionally infect each other with the new coronavirus, news outlets quoted Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry as saying. McKinstry said party organizers purposely invited guests who tested positive for COVID-19. She said the students put money in a pot and whoever got COVID first would get the cash.

“It makes no sense,” McKinstry said. “They’re intentionally doing it.”

Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith told the City Council on Tuesday that fire officials confirmed some students had attended parties despite knowing they were infected. The department thought the parties were rumors, but Smith said after some research, officials discovered they were real.

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