Emergency Departments Are Being Flooded With COVID Patients

UPDATE — Alabama once again added more than 8,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day on Friday, and the positivity rate rose to an all-time high of 34.6%. Alabama has had 896,614 COVID cases reported since the pandemic began in March 2020, according to an Alabama Department of Public Health update late Friday afternoon, 8,051 more cases than Thursday. Jefferson County added 1,810 of those cases and hit a positivity rate, the rate of COVID tests that returned a positive result, of 37.4%. Every county in the state is now at high risk for transmission of the virus. Emergency rooms are being overrun with record numbers of patients, and a UAB doctor on Wednesday urged people not to go to emergency rooms for COVID-19 tests or treatment for minor symptoms. Dr. Bobby Lewis, vice chair of clinical operations for UAB Emergency Medicine, said UAB and other hospitals in the city have for the past few days been seeing about a third more patients than they usually would on a heavy day. The hospital already has appropriated additional spaces to handle the emergency department overload and it has brought on more doctors, nurses and other personnel to handle the surge, Lewis said. Hospital officials are considering converting more space to treatment areas, such as setting up tents. “We are approaching the point of being overwhelmed,” Lewis said. Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Best of BirminghamWatch 2021: Politics

‘For everything there is a season’: Richard Shelby Declines Senate Reelection Run in 2022

Sen. Richard Shelby, who has represented Alabama in the United States Congress since 1979 and in the Senate since 1987, has decided that his sixth and current term will be his last. Shelby made the announcement on the Senate floor Monday and released it through his official Senate website. It was a call that many political observers in Alabama had expected when the Democrats took the majority after winning Georgia’s two Senate seats in runoff elections early in January. “For everything there is a season,” Shelby said to begin his speech. “I have done my best to address challenges and find ways to improve the day-to-day lives of all Americans. I have also focused on the economic challenges of Alabamians, increasing access to education and promoting facilities to improve the quality of schools. “I have worked to enhance Alabama’s role in space exploration and the security of our nation. Further, I have supported the utilization of Alabama’s greatest resources, including its unparalleled river system and the Port of Mobile.” As the chairman of the powerful Appropriations Committee, Shelby used his political muscle to steer federal funds to his home state. Recently, he has used his influence to try to move the U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville. But the GOP loss of the majority cost Shelby his role as chairman of the committee, and much of the influence that goes with it. Over his six terms, Shelby has served as either chairman or vice chairman — depending on which party held the majority at the time — of the Appropriations, Rules, Banking and Intelligence committees. Read more. More Best of BirminghamWatch 2021

Woodfin Reelected Birmingham Mayor in Landslide

Mt Brook Donations to Britt for Senate Signal Views from the GOP’s Business Wing

Sewell, Alabama’s Lone Congressional Democrat, Seeks to Strengthen Voting Rights, Defeat Party Infighting

by BirminghamWatch

New COVID Cases Top 3,000 for the First Time Since September

Alabama reported 3,705 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the weekly average of new daily cases to 2,097, six times the average the state was experiencing at the start of the month. Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Best of BirminghamWatch 2021: Race and Hate Crimes

Lady Justice Is Not Wearing a Blindfold

In 1996, Jerald Sanders, a Black man and resident of Alabama, used his pocket knife to tear a hole in a front porch screen so he could steal a bicycle stored inside. When apprehended a few weeks later, Sanders was charged with burglary in the first degree, a Class C felony. Because Sanders had multiple prior offenses on his record, his sentence was pushed to life in prison without parole. A Class C felony often results in a fine or minimal jail time. Sanders’ story is not rare. Black men are sentenced to prison time that reflects not only the crime for which they are being sentenced, but for their entire criminal history. According to statistics from the Sentencing Project, Blacks are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of whites. Read more.

Alabama is Home to 20 Hate Groups, 838 Operate Nationwide, SPLC Says

Twenty Alabama groups have been categorized as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center among 838 nationwide. Read more.

A Lack of Hate or Lack of Reporting?: Alabama Has Reported Zero Hate Crimes in the Past Two Years

On April 9, 2020, the Etz Chayim Synagogue in Huntsville was defaced with antisemitic graffiti. The following day, the Chabad of Huntsville was vandalized with similar hate speech. Security footage taken from both scenes indicates the same perpetrator committed both crimes. Given that they took place on the first night of the Jewish holiday Passover, the crimes are thought to be meticulously planned and executed with one purpose: to send a message of hate to the Jewish community. Mayor Tommy Battle released a statement to the public saying “the city of Huntsville condemns antisemitism in the strongest possible terms” and emphasized Huntsville as a city of inclusivity and acceptance. “Any offense against one is an offense against all,” Battle said. The case has since been handed over to the FBI, and no perpetrator has been caught. Despite these attacks against the Jewish community the state of Alabama has reported zero hate crimes to the FBI’s annual Unified Crime Report for the past two years in a row. It is the only state in the country that has reported zero hate crimes. “It is highly implausible that in 2019 or 2018, no hate crimes were committed in Alabama. Of the over 417 law enforcement agencies in the state, only two actually participated in the 2019 reporting process to the FBI, which is deeply troubling and undoubtedly means that many hate crimes have gone unreported,” said Dr. Allison Padilla-Goodman, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League’s Southern Division. >Read more.

by Michelle Love

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday!

by From BirminghamWatch

Alabama at High COVID Risk Statewide on Eve of Christmas Festivities

Alabama as a whole is now classified as being at high risk of COVID transmission as cases skyrocket just days before Christmas. On Thursday, 2,060 new COVID cases were reported, giving the state a 1,173 7-day average for new cases, more than triple the daily average at the start of the month. The omicron variant has spurred COVID increases across the country. The variant is far more infectious than earlier strains but tends to cause milder illness, though it still can be extremely dangerous, particularly for people with other health conditions, and still carries the risk of inflicting sufferers with long COVID. Read more.

by Virginia Martin

Prison Visits Are Back; Many Have Not Seen Loved Ones for Nearly 2 Years

This holiday season, many incarcerated people are seeing their loved ones for the first time since March 2020 due to COVID restrictions. Read more.

by Brittany Brown, Gulf States Newsroom

Omicron, as Infectious as Measles, Has Officials Worried About Spread, Overload of Health Care Systems

The explosive growth of the highly infectious omicron variant and a rapid rise in COVID cases since Thanksgiving prompted several officials and physicians to raise the red flag Tuesday. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin and Jefferson County Health Officer Mark E. Wilson suggested that a new surge in cases could overwhelm local hospitals and urged people to get vaccinated. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UAB, said the spread of omicron is now being compared to the measles, one of the most infectious agents known to man. Other news on the COVID front: Jefferson County is now classified as having a high rate of community transmission. Vaccines not as effective against omicron and monoclonal antibodies ineffective. Preventive measures urged. Recommendations for holiday travel. Marrazzo: “This virus is just weird. It’s a weird virus that has been unpredictable and has done things that we haven’t seen with other respiratory viruses. So I’d just really respect it.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett and Virginia Martin

Three Birmingham Families on What the Magic City Means to Them as the City Turns 150

Birmingham marked its 150th anniversary Sunday. The city officially began on Dec. 19, 1871, when the state legislature incorporated the city. Birmingham saw rapid growth, fueled by mining and steel production, earning it the nickname the Magic City. The city later became a focal point of the civil rights movement. But tens of thousands of people also called Birmingham home. Three families shared their stories of what the Magic City means to them. Read more.

by Cody Short, WBHM

Carbon Monoxide From Generators Poisons Thousands of People a Year. The U.S. Has Failed to Force Safety Changes.

This story was originally published by ProPublica. Portable generators can save lives after major storms by powering medical equipment, heaters and refrigerators when the grid collapses. But desperate residents who rely on the machines to keep their families safe sometimes end up poisoning them instead. The devices can emit as much carbon monoxide as 450 cars, according to federal figures. They kill an average of 70 people in the U.S. each year and injure thousands more, making them one of the most dangerous consumer products on the market. Read more.

by Perla Trevizo, Lexi Churchill and Ren Larson, ProPublica and The Texas Tribune; Mike Hixenbaugh and Suzy Khimm, NBC News