Glenn Stephens

Alabama Adds More Than 5,000 Cases of COVID-19

Alabama added 5,016 new cases of COVID-19 and 37 deaths in Wednesday's daily update by the state Department of Public Health. The number of people in hospitals across the state for treatment of the coronavirus continued to rise and stood at a record 2,804 on Tuesday. That is up from 1,779 on Dec. 1. A total of 33,452 have been hospitalized since the pandemic began in March. The report brought the number of cases of COVID-19 in Alabama this year to 356,820. The state aeraged 3,179 new cases daily over the past week, up from 2,291 on Dec. 1. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

UAB’s Marrazzo Concerned About Rising COVID Numbers, but Hopeful About Vaccines

The top immunologist at UAB is still casting a wary eye on spikes in COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations, but she is also taking heart in the growing number of people being vaccinated for the virus. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UAB Hospital, said in a press conference Tuesday that Alabama is setting some “unenviable” records when it comes to COVID data. “We are now number six in the nation, per capita, for COVID cases on average over the last seven days,” Marrazzo said. “It’s not a good place for us to be in the top 10. We had fallen out of that list for a long time.” Alabama is averaging about 3,300 new cases per day, but Marrazzo said that number is probably higher because of delays in reporting tests over the holidays. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Alabama Hospitals Report Another Record Number of COVID-19 Patients

With the number of people in Alabama hospitals for COVID-19 steadily climbing, the state recorded 3,907 new cases of the disease and 25 deaths from it in Tuesday's update. The Alabama Department of Public Health, in its daily report, said a record 2,802 people were being treated in hospitals for COVID-19 on Monday. The number has risen each day from a count of 2,403 on Christmas Day.  UAB Hospital reported a record 207 COVID patients on Monday. The hospital's count had stood at 195 on Sunday. ADPH figures showed there have been 32,999 COVID patients in in Alabama hospitals over the course of the pandemic. Of those, 2,424 have been treated in intensive care units, with 1,394 on ventilators. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

4,232 New Cases of COVID-19, 89 Deaths Reported Thursday

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 4,232 new cases of COVID-19 and 89 deaths in its daily update on Thursday. The state has recorded 338,801 cases of the coronavirus and 4,676 deaths from the disease since the pandemic began in March. The agency has reported an average of 4,067 new cases a day over the past week. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Better Basics Is Working to Erase Education Gaps Resulting from Racial, Ethnic and Socioeconomic Lines

In this digital age, reading, comprehending text, performing basic math and problem-solving are just some of the skills students have to master to be college and career ready.  But a 2019 report by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) on student scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) shows that black, Hispanic and American Indian youngsters are falling behind in some of those critical skills. Take reading, for example. NCES reported that among American fourth graders, the average 2019 reading scores were 237 for Asian and Pacific Islander students and 230 for whites. But the scores averaged 204 for blacks and American Indian students, and 209 for Hispanics. And studies show that if a child cannot read at a proficient level by the end of third grade, he or she is more likely to struggle and even drop out of school before earning a high school diploma. While the NCES report paints a dim picture of the academic achievement gap in America, an Alabama nonprofit called Better Basics Inc. is working to shrink the gap for underserved students in the Birmingham metro area and beyond. Read more.

by Gail Allyn Short

COVID-19 Deaths Rise by 135 in Alabama

Alabama added 135 deaths from COVID-19, along with 4,758 new cases of the disease, in Wednesday's daily update by the state Department of Public Health. That raised the number of deaths since the pandemic began in March to 4,587. There have been 334,569 cases of the coronavirus. The deaths represented the highest single-day addition so far. While ADPH's daily updates account for new cases of COVID-19 for the most recent 24-hour period, deaths are reported to the agency on a more delayed basis and can be spread over several days. Read more.

by Glenn Stephens

Almost 5,000 New Cases of COVID-19 in Alabama Reported Tuesday

The Alabama Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 4,979 new cases of COVID-19 and 63 deaths from the disease in its 24-hour update. The state has totaled 329,811 cases of the coronavirus and 4,452 deaths since the pandemic began in March. Tuesday's update increased the average number of new cases per day for the past week to 4,040, the highest weekly average so far. The seven-day average was 3,553 one week earlier and 2,291 on Dec. 1. The state averaged 38 deaths a day over the past week, up from 16 per day for the week that ended Dec. 1. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Will Richard Shelby Run Again in 2022? If Not, Who Will Try for His Senate Seat?

Richard Shelby was sworn in to the United States House of Representatives in 1979, eight years before he took his current place in the Senate. He was 44 years old at the time, and also a Democrat. A lot has changed for the Birmingham native since then. Having switched to the Republican Party in 1994 after the GOP’s historic sweep of Congress, Shelby has assumed a great deal of influence in the Senate, now serving as chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee. It’s a position that has helped him steer federal money to the state since he took the gavel two years ago, and it’s a chairmanship that Shelby — and many of his Republican friends back in Alabama — is keen to keep. But time is not on his side. With two years remaining in his sixth and term, Shelby faces a huge decision: whether or not to run for re-election in 2022, when he would be 88 years old. It’s a decision Shelby has said he will announce sometime in January. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Moderna Vaccine for COVID-19 Has Arrived in Alabama

The second of the two vaccines federally approved for prevention of COVID-19 is now in the hands of health care professionals in Alabama, with more on the way. The Alabama Department of Public Health announced that the vaccine manufactured by biotech company Moderna arrived in some hospitals in the state on Monday, with others scheduled to get deliveries in the following couple of days. The vaccine was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration on Friday, and shipments began immediately. Alabama will get 84,300 doses in the first batch. The Moderna product is the second to ship to American hospitals, after shipments of the Pfizer vaccine began last week. Unlike the Pfizer product, which must be stored and transported at temperatures around –70 degrees Celsius (–94 degrees Fahrenheit) in special equipment, the Moderna vaccine requires storage at –20 degrees Celsius (–4 Fahrenheit). Read more.

by Robert Carter

Saturday Report Adds 4,221 New COVID-19 Cases, 93 Deaths in Alabama

Alabama added 4,221 new cases of COVID-19 and 93 deaths from the disease in Saturday's daily update by the state Department of Public Health. There have been 319,904 cases and 4,389 deaths from the coronavirus since the pandemic began in March. The number of people hospitalized for the disease rached a record 2,447 on Friday, ADPH reported. The previous high was 2,425 the previous day. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch