Glenn Stephens

Death Rate Continues to Rise, but Numbers of New COVID Cases and Hospitalizations Falls

The downward trend in numbers of new cases and people hospitalized from COVID-19 continued Wednesday, but the death rate rose again in Alabama. The state Department of Public Health added 205 deaths from the coronavirus, raising the daily average to 126 over the past week. There have been 13,665 COVID deaths since the pandemic began in March 2020. The 7-day average has grown by six-fold since starting at 20 at the beginning of September. The Alabama Hospital Association reported 1,857 COVID patients on Tuesday and said 83% of them were unvaccinated. It said1,545 of the state's 1,555 intensive care unit beds were occupied, including 649 patients with the coronavirus. The number of COVID inpatients in hospitals across the state has steadily dropped this month, from 2,890 on Sept. 1. Read more.

by Birmingham Watch

Alabama Added 106 Deaths a Day from COVID-19 Over Past Week

The Alabama Department of Public Health added 250 deaths from COVID-19 in its daily update Tuesday, pushing the total for the pandemic to 13,460. The rate has increased by a record 106 deaths a day over the past week, according to ADPH reports. There had been a lull in reporting over the weekend, so part of the large number of deaths on Tuesday came from catching up with that. Still, officials note that while there is a lag of several days to two weeks in the reporting and confirmation of COVID deaths, the growing 7-day average reflects an increase in the number of people dying from the disease. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Will Special Session Include Sentencing Reform Measures?

At the very end of the Alabama Legislature’s 2021 Regular Session in May, a slate of four criminal justice bills died before getting a vote in the Senate. The bills, sponsored by Rep. Jim Hill, R-Moody, received bi-partisan support in the House and looked to be a lock to go to the governor’s desk. But things can get testy between the chambers on the final days of session and they never came up for a final vote. “Sometimes with these things, you just run out of time,” Hill told Alabama Daily News on Monday. Now, Hill is prepared to file the bills again in the special session on prison construction, should they fit into Gov. Kay Ivey’s special session plan. Read more.

by Mary Sell and Todd Stacy, Alabama Daily News

State House’s COVID-19 Restrictions Eased for Upcoming Special Session

After restricted public access the past two regular legislative sessions, next week’s special session of the Alabama Legislature will largely be free of COVID-19 protocols. Secretary of the Senate Pat Harris said that people who aren’t vaccinated are asked to wear masks, as is the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but there will be no enforcement of that request. “We’re asking people to use common sense,” Harris said. The Senate gallery will again be open to the public, Harris said, but distancing in committee rooms will still be in place. “We’re not going to pack the hearing rooms,” Harris said.  Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Pfizer Vaccine Shows Promise for Children from 5 to 11 Years Old, UAB Experts Say

Pfizer released trial results Monday of a COVID vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 that uses one-third the dosage given adults, a move one pediatric expert called a foretaste of developments to come. Pfizer should have the results before the Food and Drug Administration later this month, said Dr. David Kimberlin, professor and co-director of UAB and Children’s of Alabama’s Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. “(Dr. Anthony) Fauci has said it would be authorized before Halloween,” he added. Pfizer said its study shows “a favorable safety profile and robust neutralizing antibody” for the 5-11 age group.  The study gave Pfizer the results the company wanted to see, Kimberlin said. The study used one-third the adult dosage for children, which was selected for its safety, tolerability and immunogenicity, according to Pfizer. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

Perry County Facility Key Factor in Prison Plan

The proposed plan to build new prisons in Alabama would also allow the purchase of the empty, privately owned prison in Perry County to hold parole violators who are crowding some county jails around the state.  The Perry County Correctional Facility "has always been the Rubik’s Cube of the prison problem that no one’s ever been really able to figure out,” Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Parole Director Cam Ward told Alabama Daily News. Built in the 2000s, Ward said, it’s a good 730-bed facility but its remote location and distance from medical care has been a challenge to operations. At one point, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used the space. “But it’s never been used to capacity,” Ward said. Ward and other state leaders will meet with GEO Group, the private prison company that owns the site, this week, about the possible purchase. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

Alabama’s COVID Death Rate More Than Doubles in Past Week

The Alabama Department of Public Health added 161 deaths to the state's COVID-19 toll on Saturday, doubling the aveage daily count during the past week. Though the death rate continued to grow, the average number of cases of the coronavirus in Alabama was down by 577 a day from a week earlier. There have been 13,209 coronavirus deaths in Alabama since the pandemic began in March 2020. The state has added an average of 86 deaths a day over the past week, compared to the 7-day average of 37 the previous Saturday. There is a delay of up to two weeks in the reporting and verification of deaths by the Health Department. The state has recorded 768,301 cases of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, including 3,462 in Saturday's update. There has been an average of 3,213 new cases a day over the past week, compared to 3,790 for the previous Saturday. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Alabama Unemployment Rate Continued Downward Trend in August

Alabama’s unemployment rate continued to tick downward in August to 3.1%, down from 3.2% in July and 7.1% in August 2020. “Alabama continues our streak of dropping unemployment, getting more of our people back to work and able to provide for their families, and we are seeing our jobs count and wages consistently rise,” Gov. Kay Ivey said in a written statement Friday. “Employers in Alabama have jobs to fill, and they’re doing so at a good pace. We’re proud of the progress Alabama is making as we continue to overcome the challenges we faced due to the pandemic. Alabama is working again, and we know our work is not done yet.” The rate hit a pandemic high of 13.2% in April 2020. It was in the 2% range prior to the virus’ arrival in the state and subsequent slowdowns and shutdowns. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

New Cases, Hospitalizations Drop, but COVID Death Rate Grows

The number of deaths from COVID-19 continued to grow while the number of new cases declined again in Friday's daily report by the Alabama Department of Public Health. ADPH reported 192 deaths, sending the state's total for the pandemic to 13,048. Alabama has recorded an average of 63 deaths a day from the coronavirus over the past week. There is a lag in reporting deaths to the state, and it can take as long as two weeks for them to be added to the total. The Health Department added 2,974 cases, bringing the total to 764,839 since the pandemic began in March 2020. There's been an average of 3,360 new cases a day for the last seven days. Last Friday, the 7-day average stood at 3,780. The number of COVID patients in Alabama hospitals stood at 2,223 on Thursday, down from 2,890 at the begining of this month but up from this year's low of 166 patients on June 20. Read more. "> Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

COVID Death Rate Continues to Accelerate in Alabama

Alabama's death rate from COVID-19 continued to climb in Thursday's update by the state Department of Public Health. The agency reported 72 new deaths, raising the toll to 12,856 over the course of the pandemic. ADPH has added an average of 43 deaths per day over the past week. By comparison, the statewide average was 32 a day ago and 20 daily at the end of last month. Read more.

by Birmingham Watch