Funds to provide tests for 265,000 Alabama college students

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — As many as 265,000 students entering Alabama colleges this fall will be tested for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 under a new program.

The testing announced Monday is meant to help prevent the disease from spreading on two- and four-year campuses.

It’s being funded with $30 million in federal pandemic relief funding, Under the program,  individual schools will decide whether to require that students be tested.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham, which is helping run the effort, says it will do so.

Alabama is grappling with an increase in positive test results and hospitalizations linked to the coronavirus.