Coronavirus

Alabama’s Total COVID Infections Surpass 600,000, as Case Counts Continue Rapid  Climb

It’s been almost a year and a half since the COVID-19 began in the United States, and over that time Alabama has seen its ups and downs in the rate of infections.

Now, with the latest surge propelled by the onset of the powerful Delta variant of the virus, the state has passed a milestone that no one wanted to see.

On Friday, the Alabama Department of Public Health announced on its online dashboard that the number of cumulative cases of COVID-19 has passed 600,000, roughly equal to 12% of the state’s population. That’s an increase of 3,685 new cases for the day, the fourth in a row with more than 3,000 new infections tallied.

The 7-day moving average of daily new cases rose by more than 500 on Friday alone, blowing past the 3,000 level for the first time since Jan. 16, which was near the peak of the pandemic’s winter surge. The average is now up to 3,303.57 new daily infections, more than 27 times the lowest levels reached at the bottom of the long spring and early summer downtrend that health professionals hoped would signal that the spread of COVID was under control.

Over the past week, 23,125 new infections have been reported.

The 14-day average, which is designed to react less to sharp peaks and valleys in the data, has been playing catch-up with the daily reports but now is up to 2,576.79. That level hasn’t been seen since early February.

Hospitalizations continued their sharp uptrend as well on Friday, as 75 additional beds were filled with COVID inpatients, bringing the statewide total to 1,923. That matches a figure on Jan. 29, just after the total had crossed under 2,000 on its slide downward from winter highs. The new total is more than 11½ times the low mark on June 20.

In a press conference, state Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris told reporters that 93% of the state’s intensive care unit beds were filled with COVID patients, with 37 of the patients in Thursday’s report being pediatric cases. Children are particularly vulnerable in the current surge because the three vaccine varieties currently available are not approved for those under 12 years old.

Jefferson County reported a 7-day average of 360 cases per day; that number has nearly tripled in two weeks’ time. On Thursday, the most recent data available, 514 new cases were reported.

Mobile County is the COVID hotspot for the state, with 848 new infections and eight deaths reported by the county health department Thursday. The county had 338 COVID inpatients, down slightly from a peak on Wednesday of 350.

In north Alabama, the Huntsville Hospital System tallied 211 COVID patients across its nine facilities. Of that number, 62 patients are in ICUs and 25 are on ventilators.

There have been scattered reports of emergency rooms across the state, including metro Birmingham, which have turned away those seeking treatment who are not COVID positive. On Thursday, UAB Hospital announced that it would reduce by 10 the number of surgical admissions it will allow per day because of increasing need of ICU or acute-care beds for COVID patients.

“UAB Hospital provides few services that would be considered ‘elective.’ The surgical procedures that are now delayed are for serious, important medical issues that can be put off in the short term. However, a long delay in performing these procedures can lead to more serious and significant issues,” a UAB spokesperson said in a press release, adding that further growth in COVID bed needs may trigger another reduction in surgical admissions. In addition, UAB is prohibiting visitors at the main hospital, its Highlands emergency room and the freestanding emergency room in Gardendale. Currently there are 93 COVID inpatients at UAB.

For the first time since the latest surge began, the number of deaths is starting to move upward consistently each day — a trend health officials expected, since death tolls typically lag behind new case reports by four to six weeks. Twenty-six COVID deaths were reported by ADPH on Friday, and the 7-day moving average jumped to 12 deaths per day after three straight days of double-digit reports. It’s the first time that average has been that high since June 9, and the death toll is still far below levels reached during the height of the winter surge.

Jefferson County he reported two COVID deaths in the week ending Thursday.