More than 500 COVID-19 cases reported on Alabama campus

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The University of Alabama has recorded 531 cases of COVID-19 on campus since the fall semester began last week, according to numbers the university system released Tuesday as officials try to clamp down on student parties, bars and other gatherings that could spread the coronavirus.

The university, which issued a 14-day moratorium on student gatherings last week, released the number of students, faculty and staff testing positive a day after Tuscaloosa's mayor ordered bars closed.

The university had earlier announced that initial results from a testing program found few students returning to campus on Aug. 19 were positive for COVID-19 but said subsequent testing last week found more cases. Nearly 30,00 students took the entry tests.

"However, over the past week, due to student behavior, we have seen a spike in the number of students who have sought re-testing because they became symptomatic or were exposed to a COVID-positive individual. That trend prompted the decision to take further steps to reduce the chance that the COVID- 19 virus will escalate dramatically,” Dr. Selwyn Vickers, dean of the University of Alabama at Birmingham's School of Medicine and co-chair of the university system's Health and Safety Task Force, said in a statement.

On Monday, the mayor of Tuscaloosa ordered bars closed for the next two weeks after University of Alabama officials described an “unacceptable” rise in COVID-19 cases that could jeopardize plans to continue the semester on campus.

The university announced the 14-day moratorium on all in-person student events outside of classroom instruction Friday. Social gatherings are prohibited both on and off campus and the common areas of dormitories and fraternity and sorority houses are closed, according to the new guidelines. Visitors are not being...