Glenn Stephens

Alabama Hospitals in ‘Uncharted Territory’ as COVID-19 Spread Grows

Hospitals across the state have moved into “uncharted territory” as they struggle to keep up with the influx of COVID-19 patients while responding to patients with heart attacks, strokes and other serious illnesses, the president of the Alabama Hospital Association said Wednesday. There were 2,731 Covid patients in 111 hospitals across the state on Wednesday, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. That is 360 patients more than the total a week earlier, and the count is approaching the single-day high of 3,084 on Jan. 11. UAB reported that it was caring for 184 patients who were admitted for the coronavirus. The crisis faced by hospitals is directly tied to the sharp increase in the number of new infections, which ADPH reports is now regularly surpassing 4,000 cases per day. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald and Robert Carter

UAB Will Require Vaccination of Healthcare Workers as Alabama’s COVID Hospitalizations Near Record High

With the number of COVID-19 patients in Alabama nearing a record high, the University of Alabama at Birmingham announced Tuesday that it will require employees of the UAB Health System to be vaccinated for the coronavirus. There were 2,723 Covid patients being treated in Alabama hospitals on Tuesday, the most since Jan. 19, the state

by Virginia MacDonald

Committee on Pandemic Response Delays Meeting Due to COVID Concerns

MONTGOMERY —  A meeting of the joint legislative committee analyzing how the state responded to the COVID-19 pandemic has been delayed over concerns of rising case numbers. The in-person meeting was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but committee co-chair Sen. Tim Melson, R-Florence, told Alabama Daily News it was delayed until Aug. 25. “It seemed questionable

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

Taliban Takeover Leaves Americans More Vulnerable, Says Father of First American Killed In Afghan War

WINFIELD -– With the Taliban again in control of Afghanistan, Johnny Spann says he does not expect the Islamic fundamentalists to be any different than they were when his son Mike died there in the fall of 2001. "Americans are more vulnerable today than they have been in 20 years because of what is going on in Afghanistan right now,” Spann said Monday in his real estate office on the edge of downtown Winfield, not far from a memorial park that is named after his son, a former Marine and CIA officer who was killed during an uprising of Taliban prisoners at the Qala-i-Jangi fortress near the northern Afghan city of Mazir-i-Sharif on Nov. 15, 2001. Mike Spann was the first American to die in the U.S. response to the Sept. 11, 2011 ,terrorist attacks on the U.S. mainland. A section of highway in the Winfield area bears his name and, for now, so does a monument at the site of his death in Afghanistan. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Read more.

by Tom Gordon

General Fund, Education Fund Revenues Up; Budget Leaders Cautiously Watch Delta Variant

The state’s General Fund and Education Trust Fund receipts have grown by double-digits over last year, encouraging state leaders as they cautiously watch the continuing pandemic and brace for potential big expenses in 2022. “We are recovering quite well from the pandemic, and revenues are ahead of expectations for the fiscal year,” said Kirk Fulford, deputy director of the Legislative Services Agency’s Fiscal Division. “Obviously, it is too early to predict what 2022 will look like yet as much of that will depend on further issues with the latest strain of COVID and how that impacts businesses, healthcare, etc.” From Oct. 1 through July, tax receipts in the ETF were up 11%, $683.5 million, from the same point in fiscal 2020. The 2021 year-to-date collection was $6.8 billion. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

‘An Absolute Tidal Wave’: As COVID Delta Variant Marches Across Alabama, Hospitals Struggle to Keep Up

• New COVID-19 Emergency Order Gives Hospitals More Flexibility The vice president for clinical resources at UAB Hospital summed up the crisis that faces her facility and many others across Alabama in four words: “We’re in dire circumstances.” Dr. Sarah Nafziger’s comment came during one of two online conferences held by top health officials on Thursday, as they struggled to grasp the magnitude of the current surge in COVID cases fueled by the spread of the mutation known as the Delta variant. Hospitals are facing a huge influx of patients, roughly 90% of whom have not been vaccinated for the virus. That is stretching capacities to their limits and threatens to surpass the numbers from the winter surge. All that comes on top of the existing higher-than-normal caseloads from those who had previously put off procedures for treating cancer, strokes, physical injuries and the like, many of which had been delayed for months because of COVID patient needs in the winter. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Dual Enrollment Scholarships for High School Students Increased

More scholarship money is available in the upcoming academic year for high school students who also want to earn college credits in math, science and engineering. The STEM scholarships are in addition to existing career technical education scholarships that have been available for several years. Lawmakers and Gov. Kay Ivey increased funding for dual enrollment in the 2022 education budget by $3 million to $21.1 million.  Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Medical Marijuana Commission Holds Organizational Meeting

MONTGOMERY -- Alabama’s Medical Marijuana Commission gathered for the first time Thursday for an organizational meeting as it begins the process of rolling out medical marijuana policies in the state. The 14-member panel voted to make Steven Stokes, a Dothan radiation oncologist, chair of the commission. Stokes told Alabama Daily News that the coming months will be a busy time for the commission as it works to set up the state’s “seed-to-sale” regulatory practices for medical marijuana. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

State Board of Education Votes to Ban Teaching of Critical Race Theory

MONTGOMERY -- The Alabama State Board of Education on Thursday passed a resolution banning the teaching of critical race theory in public schools, a move that supporters said preserves intellectual freedom and opponents said will stifle how history is taught. The resolution doesn’t appear to have any enforceable power behind it, and state Superintendent Eric Mackey said he believes that no teacher in Alabama will be punished as a result of it. “We don’t think there is anything in our courses of study -- we’ve done a deep dive -- that will be in conflict with the current resolution,” Mackey said. “So it really has no effect on our current course of study.” Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

COVID Cases, Deaths, Hospitalizations Continue Steady Rise in Alabama

The number of COVID deaths and cases in Alabama continues to climb daily, with the majority of victims being people who did not get vaccinated. Of the 11,600-plus deaths from COVID in the state, only 26 were of people who were fully vaccinated, state Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said this week. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 4,167 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursdsay, leaving the state with an average of 3,469 new cases a day over the past week. There have been 623,919 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020. ADPH added 35 deaths from COVID in its daily report Thursday, bringing the state’s seven-day average to 21 a day. There have been 11,724 deaths in the state through the course of the pandemic. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald