Coronavirus

ADPH Reports Jump in COVID-19 Count

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported a large increase Wednesday in the number of new cases of COVID-19 in the state, but officials said the figures include older information from a testing lab. The agency's daily dashboard showed 1,147 total new cases of the disease, up from 571 in the previous day's report. ADPH said a laboratory transmitted statistics into the system that included cases from an unspecified number of previous days, inflating the daily total. The dashboard listed 154,701 cases in Alabama since the pandemic began in March. That includes 137,564 cases that are confirmed to have been from the disease and 17,137 that are listed as probable. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

571 New Cases, 16 Deaths from COVID-19 Listed in Tuesday Report

Alabama recorded 571 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths in Tuesday's 0vernight report by the state Department of Public Health. There have been 153,554 cases of the disease since the pandemic began in March, the agency's daily dashboard showed. Of those, 136,549 are confirmed to have been from the coronavirus and 17,005 are listed as probable. The death toll reached 2,517, with 2,378 confirmed and 139 probable. Read more.

by Glenn Stephens

No COVID-19 Deaths in Alabama for Second Consecutive Day

There were 662 new cases of COVID-19 in Alabama but no new deaths for the second consecutive day, according to Monday's 24-hour update by the state Department of Public Health. The number of total cases rose to 152,983, including 136,055 confirmed cases and 16,928 probable cases. The death toll stood at 2,501, including 2,364 confirmed to have been from COVID-19 and 137 listed as probable. That has not changed since an increase of 10 cases was reported Saturday. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Local Health Officials Worry CDC Has ‘Lost Its Soul’

As Dr. Mark Wilson prepared to release advice in July that middle schools and high schools in Birmingham should not open for in-person learning this fall, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its position and issued the opposite recommendation. Wilson, health officer for Jefferson County, stuck to his at-home schooling decision, but now without support from what had long been regarded as the nation’s most esteemed public health authority. Not only that, he said some of the vexed parents even cited the CDC in attacking his stand. It felt like the limb he was out on had been sawed off at the trunk. “That guidance gave me one of the worst weeks of my life,” Wilson recalled in an interview with Stateline. The agency’s revised advice came on the heels of President Donald Trump’s vigorous call for a full, face-to-face school reopening. But it conflicted with what Wilson and other public health officials knew were disturbing results from a credible South Korean study, which, contrary to popular belief, found that older children were a greater risk for transmitting the virus than younger children. That made reopening middle and high schools more problematic. Since the pandemic began, a string of messages from the Trump administration, many lacking scientific evidence, have confounded the work of state and local public health authorities who have the already challenging job of convincing people to abide by restrictions that many find not only onerous but also economically punishing. Read more.

by Christine Vestal and Michael Ollove, Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts

730 New COVID-19 Cases in Alabama in Sunday Report

Alabama reported 730 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and had no additional deaths, according the state Department of Public Health's daily update. There have been 135,554 confirmed cases of the disease and 16,767 probable cases for a total of 152,321 since the pandemic began in March. The agency has reported 2,364 deaths that were confirmed to have been from the coronavirus and 137 listed as probable for a total of 2,501. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

COVID Case Count Tops 150,000

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Alabama eclipsed the 150,000 mark on Friday, and the number of deaths approached the 2,500 level, according to the state Department of Public Health. The agency added 798 confirmed cases and 1,654 probable cases to its dashboard Friday, pushing its totals to 134,231 confirmed cases and 16,427 probable cases. The total since the pandemic began in March is 150,658 overall. There were eight new deaths Friday, increasing deaths to 2,357 confirmed and 134 probable for a total of 2,491. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Number of New COVID-19 Cases Leaps to 981 in Thursday Report

The number of confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in Alabama more than doubled from the previous day's total in Thursday's 24-hour update by the state Department of Public Health. The agency reported 464 confirmed new cases on Wednesday, and that figure grew to 981 on Thursday. Another 14,773 cases were listed as probable. The increase pushed the daily number of new cases to an average of 762 over the past week, the highest average since a figure of 798 on Sept. 4. The 14-day average stood at 726 cases a day, the most since an average of 741 on Sept. 11. Thursday's COVID-19 Dashboard listed 14 deaths, for a total of 2,349 since the pandemic began in March. An additional 157 deaths are shown as probable. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Alabama’s COVID-19 New Case Averages Mixed, Death Reports Turning Upward

After several weeks of Alabama COVID-19 numbers moving in a positive direction, the data is starting to level off or take a slight turn for the worse. In BirminghamWatch’s weekly analysis of data reported by the Alabama Department of Public Health, the 7-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases for the period ending Wednesday is 704.14 per day, down by two cases per day from a week ago. The longer-term 14-day average has risen to 705.14; that’s an increase of just more than the average 40 cases per day posted seven days ago. The percentage increase in the number of new positives rose by an average of 0.54% per day over the past seven days, with the average wavering little from that level for three straight weeks. Read more.

by Robert Carter

CDC Statements Stoke Confusion Over How the Coronavirus Spreads

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released an updated statement on the spread of coronavirus in the air, then three days later removed that statement from its website, saying it had not been approved for posting. There are debates about why the statement was issued and revoked, but it’s clear that the stumble has added to the confusion among the public about how the virus spreads. Dr. Wesley Willeford, medical director for disease control at the Jefferson County Department of Health, said that does not change the precautions people should be taking. Wearing a mask whenever in public and keeping a social distance of at least six feet is still the best advice health officials can give people to avoid contracting the disease, he said. Read more.

by Michelle Love

COVID-19 Daily Case Count Drops, But Number of Deaths Rises

Alabama recorded its lowest daily number of confirmed cases in more than two weeks but the highest number of deaths in more than a week on Wednesday in the state Department of Public Health's 24-hour COVID-19 update. There were 464 confirmed cases of the disease, down from 583 on Tuesday and the fewest since a count of 405 on Sept. 8. The state has listed 132,452 confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March, plus 14,701 presumed cases for a total of 147,153. It is averaging 704 cases a day over the past week and 705 daily over the past 14 days. The COVID-19 Dashboard showed 31 new deaths, the most since a total of 32 on Sept. 15. There have been 2,335 confirmed deaths, plus 153 presumed for an overall total of 2,488. Read more. 

by BirminghamWatch