Virginia Martin

People Succumbing to COVID Fatigue are Spreading the Virus, UAB Doc Says; NY Tells Alabama Travelers to Quarantine or Go Elsewhere

The biggest challenge to stopping the spread of COVID-19 now is the public's desire to return to the "old normal," Dr. Molly Fleece, UAB assistant professor of infectious diseases, said Wednesday. "Masks work," Fleece said as UAB and other health officials brace for increased summer activities and the Fourth of July. The number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose Wednesday by 954, one of the largest daily increases since the pandemic began, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Fleece said that, over the past 24 hours, Mobile and Lee counties had their highest number of new cases recorded. She said the spike in the number of cases can be attributed to summer travel and COVID fatigue as people just want to go back to their old lifestyles. Also Wednesday, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut barred travelers from Alabama from entering without quarantining for 14 days upon arrival. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

The ‘Old Normal’ Is Making Us Sick Again, UAB Doc Says; NY-Area Bans Alabama Travelers Without a Quarantine

The biggest challenge to stopping the spread of COVID-19 now is the public's desire to return to the "old normal," Dr. Molly Fleece, UAB assistant professor of infectious diseases, said Wednesday. "Masks work," Fleece said as UAB and other health officials brace for increased summer activities and the Fourth of July. The number of COVID-19 cases in the state rose Wednesday by 954, one of the state's largest daily increases since the pandemic began, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. Also Wednesday, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have been added to the list of states where Alabamians — or anyone traveling through the state — cannot go without a 14-day quarantine on arrival. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

Avondale Added as the City’s Newest Entertainment District on July 1

The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to approve creation of the “Avondale Entertainment District,” a stretch of 41st Street South where, starting July 1, it will be legal to drink alcohol in public. It’s the fourth such area in the city, following entertainment district designations for Pepper Place, Uptown and Five Points South. “So far, this has been very successful for the city of Birmingham,” said District 2 Councilor Hunter Williams, who chairs the council’s public safety committee. The Avondale Entertainment District will stretch along 41st Street South between Second Avenue South and Fifth Avenue South. It’s a busy corridor of bars, restaurants, and entertainment venues including Saturn, the Avondale Common House, Post Office Pies, Saw’s Soul Kitchen, Melt, Fancy’s on Fifth, the Marble Ring, Avondale Brewing Company, 41st Street Pub and Parkside. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Vestiges of Segregation Remain. America Is Fighting Over Them Today.

To understand today’s protests, you have to look at yesterday’s racial inequities, historians say. And you have to realize that, as famously noted by William Faulkner, “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” America’s long history of racial inequality explains much about the intense, sometimes violent protests around the country that lately have cast a spotlight on issues of police brutality and lingering vestiges of the segregated past. It goes beyond Confederate monuments and beyond a single killing of an unarmed black man. “Even though the George Floyd murder was horrendous and absolutely impossible to watch, it shouldn’t blind us to the fact that racial violence has been with us and our country since its inception,” said John Giggie, an associate professor of history and director of the Summersell Center for the Study of the South at the University of Alabama. “For me, any conversation about George Floyd doesn’t begin yesterday, it doesn’t begin with the civil rights movement. It goes all the way back to when we know at least 17 enslaved Africans arrived at Jamestown in August of 1619. And there we began really an American tradition of unfreedom that has persisted in some vein all the way to the present moment as seen by the recent killings of unarmed black citizens,” Giggie said. He’s not the only one to connect present day problems with past discrimination. The issues thread through society. Schools with high minority populations often are poorer than majority-white schools; buying houses can be more difficult for blacks because of lending practices; health care is not as readily available in some majority black areas; black men are incarcerated in prisons at higher rates than are white men. This is the first of a series of stories from BirminghamWatch that will explore those legacies of race. Read more.

Conversation Begins Over What White Privilege Means in Society Today

Earlier this month, in response to the ongoing protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel delivered a monologue on his new acceptance of the term “white privilege.” He said he’d rejected the concept because he didn’t understand it. But now, he said, he does. “People who are white, we don’t have to deal with negative assumptions being made about us based on the color of our skin. It rarely happens, if ever. Whereas black people experience that every day,” Kimmel said. This is perhaps a sign of how recently he — and American culture at large — have begun to grapple with the concept of “white privilege.” Read more.

by Nick Patterson

Conversation Begins Over What White Privilege Means in Society Today

Earlier this month, in response to the ongoing protests over the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police, late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel delivered a monologue on his new acceptance of the term “white privilege.” He said he’d rejected the concept because he didn’t understand it. But now, he said, he does. “People who are white, we don’t have to deal with negative assumptions being made about us based on the color of our skin. It rarely happens, if ever. Whereas black people experience that every day,” Kimmel said. This is perhaps a sign of how recently he — and American culture at large — have begun to grapple with the concept of “white privilege.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Hundreds Gather in Birmingham to Celebrate Juneteenth

Hundreds of people gathered at Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park on Friday to commemorate Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery. Onoyemi Williams is with the group Alabama Rally Against Injustice. She said after weeks of protests and demonstrations, today is a celebration of Black lives. “Because when you’re at war, you must take the time for self care and celebration,” she said. “We’re celebrating where we’re at so we can prepare for where we have to go.” Read more.

by Janae Pierre, WBHM

Low ICU Capacity Could Affect Non-Coronavirus Patients the Most

WBHM Alabama’s ICU capacity has fallen to 19% as coronavirus cases continued to climb steadily across the state. That amounts to about 300 ICU beds of 1,600 available statewide. Alabama confirmed 787 new cases Friday, bringing the total to 28,583. While the number of hospitalizations has fluctuated slightly, overall it has trended upward since the pandemic began. That’s concerning to Dr. Don Williamson, president of the Alabama Hospital Association. For more on the impact on hospitals, WBHM spoke with Williamson. Read more.

by Gigi Douban, WBHM

Kansas: If You’ve Been in Alabama, You’re Not Welcome Without a 14-Day Quarantine

Kansas health officials Thursday banned people who have been in Alabama from entering that state without quarantining for 14 days, because of the increasing COVID-19 cases being reported in Alabama. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Black Lives Matter Message Rolls Over Downtown Birmingham Street

Shawn Fitzwater admits he had little hope of his suggestion of a “Black Lives Matter” street mural coming to fruition. “Really,” the professional painter said today, “not at all.” But the suggestion from Fitzwater and another individual will likely be a reality by the end of today. Work began Wednesday on the street mural, on First Avenue South between 16th and 17th Streets, where “Black Lives” has been painted in bright yellow paint. Today, the final word of the phrase is going into place as a second coat is applied to the first two words. The aim is to complete the project in time for Juneteenth festivities in Birmingham. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Alabama’s COVID-19 Case Averages Reach New Highs

The seven-day and 14-day moving averages of new COVID-19 cases per day in Alabama have reached their highest levels since the beginning of the outbreak, with sharp increases since the beginning of June. The moving averages in the weekly BirminghamWatch analysis have steadily climbed. The seven-day moving average set a record high Tuesday, with 779.0 cases per day, more than doubling between June 9 and 16 and almost tripling since June 6. The current 14-day average of 597.14 new daily cases is the current record, nearly 50% higher than the level seven days ago. Read more.

by Robert Carter