A big step forward to a return to normalcy on the Alabama campus was announced on Monday.
The University of Alabama System shared that the school has planned for the return of in-person classes without restriction for the upcoming fall 2021 semester.
“The return to normal operations would not be possible without the leadership of our campus presidents – UA President Stuart Bell, UAB President Ray Watts and UAH President Darren Dawson – who have skillfully implemented the health and safety measures recommended by our world-renowned medical experts,” said UA System Chancellor Finis St. John in a release. The Chancellor cited the work of hundreds of front-line health care staff and their counterparts throughout the System who have worked throughout the pandemic on implementation of the Health and Safety plan.
“The UA System Health and Safety Task Force, comprised of public health and infectious disease experts and administrators from the University of Alabama, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Alabama in Huntsville and UAB Medicine, has made the unified recommendation to the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees in accordance with data, including modeling developed by UAB School of Public Health epidemiologist Suzanne Judd, Ph.D.
“Dr. Selwyn Vickers, Dean of the UAB School of Medicine and Chair of the UA System Health and Safety Task Force, said today: “Our models give us confidence in the strong likelihood that we’ll have a safe environment for traditional classrooms and on-campus activities by the fall. Of course, we will continue to make every effort to abide by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Alabama Department of Public Health guidance and make data-driven decisions. If safety concerns arise, we can adjust our plan; the safety of the 110,000 students, faculty and staff of the UA System remains our top priority as it has since our Task Force began its work one year ago when COVID-19 began to emerge.”
With students being able to make their return to the classroom without restriction, it can only be a positive in terms of what the football season could potentially look like. With vaccinations increasing every day in the state of Alabama, the consideration of expanding the capacity could be on the table.
In 2020 the Crimson Tide were allowed to play in front of 20% of its usual capacity in Bryant-Denny Stadium all of which were required to adhere to the proper COVID-19 restrictions within the stadium.
A move to allowing the full 101,000 fans back into the stadium may not be the immediate solution once the season begins.
Visiting fans from out of state will likely play a part in considering what the proper capacity should be for the season as it could still be a bit of a concern for unvaccinated attendees.
UA still has roughly six months to evaluate the ever-increasing data to come up with the proper protocols to put in play.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77
