Mayor orders bars closed after rise in COVID-19 cases

Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox announced the closure of bars and bars inside restaurants, effective at 5 p.m. Monday, in response to a rise in positive tests at the University of Alabama.

The bar closure order will continue through Sept. 8. 

“The truth is, fall in Tuscaloosa is in serious jeopardy,” Maddox said during a joint news  conference with officials from the University held Monday at the Manderson Landing boathouse. “As mayor, my first responsibility is to protect the health, safety and welfare of this community and of every person that is living here, studying here or working here.” 

The executive order is a result of consultations with UA officials who have been using contact tracing for students and have identified hot spots on campus and around the city. The university is also limiting students' activities on campus to address those hot spots. 

“The rising COVID cases we have seen in recent days is unacceptable and if unchecked threatens our ability to complete the semester on campus,” UA President Stuart Bell said, referring to 531 positive tests since August 19. “As we began this year we had very robust testing, so we know that our students that showed up here all tested negative. What we have seen is an increase in those numbers. What we are trying to do now, certainly with our general student body, is flatten that (growth) curve.”

The decision also drew the attention of Gov. Kay Ivey, who said she was thankful for the leadership displayed by Maddox and the University of Alabama.

“As our students adjust to being back on campus, Tuscaloosa leaders and university officials are focused on helping to ensure their health and safety. They have made tough decisions, and I appreciate Mayor Walt Maddox and the University of Alabama leadership for tackling a serious problem as quickly as possible," Ivey said. "If you we do not act expeditiously, it leaves the potential for a situation to get out of hand, which would require even tougher, longer-lasting decisions to be enacted.

“My hope is that this will be just a brief pause on their plans to reopen and that we can get this in our rearview mirror sooner, rather than later. Clearly, it takes everyone working together to keep Alabama moving in the right direction.”

Ricky Friend, the dean of UA's College of Community Health Sciences, said that his department had led the effort to test students who returned to campus.  

“We encountered many students who have been exposed since returning to campus, particularly in the Greek system,” Friend said. “The trend continued throughout the week and now has reached levels that require a significant intervention.” 

Friend declined to specifically identify the hot spots on campus, but the Tuscaloosa-area bars were identified as problem areas off-campus. Friend said that late last week, the vice president of student life outlined additional measures that will prohibit on- and off-campus student events.  

“This week, we will be testing up to 1,000 students a day for five days in locations where geographic spread has been documented,” Friend said. 

The measures are designed to help the university remain open for in-person classes. Friend said the university reached out to the mayor and the city of Tuscaloosa to help manage the off-campus hot spots that had been identified through contact tracing. The request resulted in the mayor’s executive order, temporarily closing the bars. 

“We understand the value of these businesses and the value they bring to our community,” Friend said. “But we also know that eating and drinking in crowded social environments has been identified as a significant source of virus transmission.” 

Friend said he believed there existed a limited time frame in which to address the increasing number of COVID-19 positives and the university was devoting its resources to curb the rise of positive tests. 

Maddox indicated two areas of the community that would be endangered if they did nothing. The first disruption would be to the DCH Regional Medical Center, which could be overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases. The second is the significant economic impact  having students on campus has upon the city of Tuscaloosa. Maddox indicated that the economic effect on the Tuscaloosa area is in the neighborhood of $2 billion.

“If we fail to act with the courage of our convictions, DCH will be at risk of being stretched beyond its capacity within four to six weeks. If we do nothing, UA will be forced to go to virtual classes, and the economic consequences will be harsh and long-lasting,” the mayor said. 

Maddox said he and the City Council will be working to see how the city can help  business owners meet the economic challenges imposed upon them by his order. The mayor said he had met with the bar owners in a phone conference this morning and they were understandably not happy about the decision.

The mayor admitted that neither he nor Bell and the UA team know if the measures they are taking will be effective, but he said that doing nothing could cost unnecessary lives and loss of income.  

Bell said the goal in all the measures being taken was to keep their students on campus and to continue to have in-person classes.  

“What we are focusing on, these steps, these protocols, those are critical in order for us to continue that goal (of keeping campus open)," Bell said. "We know that early intervention has the best chance at changing the trajectory of where we are going. The early reading on that trajectory is not one we like. What we are trying to do is to change that with these changes of protocols.

“I am very proud of our students. Our students are being extremely compliant. Our challenge is not the students. Our challenge is the virus. There is a difference, folks. What we have to identify is where does the virus thrive, where does the virus spread.” 

Bell said they were working to establish protocols to minimize the impact of the virus rather than modify student behavior. Maddox echoed Bell’s thoughts saying: “I don’t think the bar owners did anything wrong. They were playing by the rules. The issue you have is that is where young people gather. We know through the contact tracing, that is one of the hot zones we have to address.” 

University of Alabama Student Government Association President Demarcus Joiner said he had driven around to see for himself if students had been compliant. He said he had conversed with the mayor, Tuscaloosa Police and the University of Alabama Police and was very pleased to see the efforts they were making to pass out masks to students they find who are not masked.

“Hopefully, students will understand this is about more than them. This is for the community's sake to make sure the community is safe as well as the students at the university ...," Joiner said. “I believe the biggest issue I have seen is that most students have been with family since March. When they came back to campus, they were so eager to see their friends, they kind of forgot about the virus. I think now, students are now understanding the importance of social distancing and wearing a mask.”