Beer Pong Party Cups in Red with ping pong balls
Nowadays, there is new meaning to the phrase,“bro, this party is sick.”
If you are going to attend an in-person party, one potential guest that you’ve got to worry about is the Covid-19 coronavirus. This virus is very bad at chit-chat but loves parties. Not because of the beer, but because people can mingle close together, yell droplet-filled stuff like “woooo,” and share typical party goer objects like beer taps, ping pong balls, Parcheesi game pieces, knitting needles, or a copy of James Joyce’s book Ulysses.
In many cases, the virus may be an uninvited guest, brought in and spread unknowingly by attendees who don’t have symptoms. However, in some cases, people have actually known that they were infected but attended parties nonetheless, such as:
Bruh. Tested positive for Covid-19 does not mean OK to attend a party.
Then, there have been reports of so-called Covid-19 parties. A recent example is from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Allegedly, college students there have been holding such Covid-19 parties in which attendees pay an entry fee, someone brings the SARS-CoV2 with him or her to the party, and the first person who ends up gets infected at the party then wins the collective pot of entry fees. Here is a WVTM-TV 13 news report on this story:
The phrase “can’t even” comes to mind as in “can’t even express how bad an idea this would be.” Deliberately spreading the virus during the pandemic when many people throughout the country are making major sacrifices to try to slow the spread of the virus such as staying at home, remaining separate from family and friends, and keeping their businesses closed? That would be like toilet papering a house while it is on fire, which also would be a terrible waste of toilet paper.
Some have expressed skepticism of such reports, asking for more evidence that such parties have actually occurred such as tickets or invitations. Tuscaloosa does have other colleges but so far the University of Alabama has tweeted out the following:
This isn’t the first time that the possibility of such Covid-19 parties has been raised and questioned:
So are Covid-19 parties actually a thing? It wouldn’t be a complete surprise if such parties have happened. After all, as I have written previously for Forbes, chicken pox parties are a thing. Heck former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin (R) once said, “Every single one of my kids had the chickenpox. They got the chickenpox on purpose because we found a neighbor that had it and I want and made sure every one of my kids was exposed to it, and they got it.” He said this despite there being a chicken pox (varicella-zoster virus) vaccine that kids could get instead. So you could imagine the thinking that some may have for the Covid-19 coronavirus, for which there is currently no vaccine.
Could someone have held a party without the explicit intent of getting people infected but nevertheless joked about doing so? Could someone during a party have at the spur of the moment tried to expose himself or herself? (In this case, expose means to the virus and not in a genitally sort of way.) Sure. Remember it hasn’t taken much to get people to put Tide Pods in their mouths, gargle with bleach, or dip their testicles in soy sauce, as I have covered previously for Forbes.
Anyone who has been in medicine or public health long enough knows that the phrase “people would never do that,” rarely applies. Trying to find further proof that Covid-19 parties exist is probably not the best use of limited public health official time and resources right now in the middle of a pandemic. Party hosts may not leave smoking guns such as writing “come get infected” or “shhh, don’t tell anyone, but we are trying to spread the virus,” on party invitations. Moreover, getting college students to talk about their parties can be like trying to extract milk from an almond.
Regardless of whether Covid-19 parties are actually occurring, it isn’t a bad idea to remind everyone that such parties would be a really bad idea. No one knows for sure whether, when, and for how long infection may result in immunity against future infections. So deliberately exposing yourself to the virus can end up being like a syringe without a needle: pointless. Until more is known about the virus, don’t assume that you can have an “immunity passport” after being infected.
Plus, just because you are college-aged doesn’t mean that you are indestructible. Sure you may be able to hold ten hot dogs in your mouth at a time. But you can still suffer severe complications after getting infected by the virus. For example, as Mike Pesarchick reported for the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, a 21-year-old Penn State student recently passed away due to Covid-19 respiratory failure.
Finally, during a pandemic, like it or not, everyone depends on each other. Anyone spreading the virus can cause a chain reaction that results in more deaths. Your actions or lack of actions can end up killing someone. The Alabama Public Health website shows that the state is currently under an amended “Safer at Home Order” until 5 pm on July 3. That’s very different from a “Go Party” or “it’s OK to infect each other” order.
So don’t even think of holding or attending a Covid-19 party whether or not they really exist. If anyone even talks about getting deliberately infected, pull back your face, wrinkle your nose and brow, and say “bruh” very loudly. Keep your distance as well. In general, try to avoid in-person parties for now. If you must attend an in-person party, make sure that you really know everyone there and can maintain social distancing. This is not the time for a game of Twister. It only takes one rogue or careless person to put everyone at risk.
