UAB's director of infectious diseases Thursday questioned the safety of a COVID vaccine that might be released in October or early November. Dr. Jeanne Marazzo said she would want to assess the data used in development of the vaccine. She joins other scientists from across the country who have questioned whether the vaccine would be safe and effective after it had undergone such speedy clinical trials. Read more.
The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting high school football in Alabama, as numerous teams were forced to forfeit games last weekend, and more than a dozen games have been canceled this weekend. The Alabama High School Athletic Association had 29 games result in forfeits during the second weekend of the 2020 season. By rule, a forfeit results in a 1-0 loss for the forfeiting team. Thirteen games scheduled for this weekend have been canceled so far. Read more.
The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 381 new cases of COVID-19 in Thursday's daily update. That brought the total number of cases since the pandemic began in March to 118,601, plus 10,684 classified as probably from the disease. The agency listed six deaths to raise the state's total to 2,120, with an additional 113 listed as probably from the coronavirus. The 381 count would be well below the average of 829 cases a day over the past week if the number remains unchanged. ADPH, however, has substantially revised the daily figures listed on its COVID Dashboard on several occasions lately, citing either technical issues or issues in the timing of the reporting. Read more.
The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 86 new cases of COVID-19 in the state Wednesday, but the agency said the number was artifically low because of the timing of its posting of the numbers. The report brought the state's total number of confirmed cases to 118,220. The state had reported 982 new confirmed cases on Tuesday, but ADPH said in an email that some of the cases that normally would have gone into Wednesday's update were included in the previous day's listing. The agency also said a total of 10,019 cases are listed as probably being from COVID-19. It said on Twitter that, in accordance with case definitions of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, the department is now listing persons with positive antigen tests as probable cases of COVID-19. "Thus, the Alabama Department of Public Health expects to see more probable cases with increasing use of another laboratory method to detect SARS-CoV-2," the Tweet explained. Read more.
In-person learning at Hoover City and Shelby County schools will go to 5-day-a-week formats later this month. In each case, the move is a continuation of plans that had been in place for the year. Shelby County told parents Monday that the change to five days a week would go into effect Sept. 14, and Hoover schools make the change Sept. 21, provided the COVID-19 numbers remain favorable. Any students going to school virtually will continue to do so. Read more.
Alabama added 982 new cases of COVID-19, as well as 19 deaths, in Tuesday's report by the state Department of Public Health. There have been 118,134 confirmed cases of the disease and 2,102 deaths from it since the pandemic began in March. An additional 9,482 cases and 98 deaths are listed as probably associated with the coronavirus. The report covering the latest 24-hour period showed an increase of 286 new cases from Monday's total of 696. Read more.
There were 696 new cases of COVID-19 in Alabama and 16 deaths from the disease, the state Department of Public Health reported in its daily update on Monday. That brought the statewide totals since the pandemic began in March to 117,152 confirmed cases and 2,083 deaths. In addition, the Health Department listed 8,906 cases and 99 deaths as probably associated with the coronavirus. Only Lee and Jefferson counties showed more than 100 new cases in the 24-hour report issued at 10 a.m. Monday. Jefferson County listed 141 cases, bringing its total to 15,872. Lee County, home of Auburn University, reported 101 cases for a total of 3,348. Read more.
Classes start in some of the area’s largest school systems this week and next, but the experience of the students is going to be very different from last fall. Jefferson County schools start Tuesday, Bessemer schools follow on Thursday and Birmingham schools start up Sept. 8. All three are offering virtual only learning for the first nine weeks in an attempt to block the spread of the coronavirus, as are many other schools. As Jefferson County school officials describe it, the school day will begin with students logging into class, which lets teachers take roll call by seeing who is logged on. A teacher can go online with his or her entire class in a Zoom-type setting called Webex, which allows video conferencing, online meetings and screen sharing. This synchronous learning allows students to interact with teachers and each other. At other times classes are divided, giving the teachers time to work interactively with five to eight students while other students work on assignments such as reading or testing. So, while students might not have to show up at class, it still is a full day’s work. Read more.
The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 1,172 new cases of COVID-19 and eight additional deaths in its daily update Sunday. That brought the state's totals to 116,456 confirmed cases and 2,067 deaths from the disease. The agency said an additional 8,779 cases and 95 deaths are listed as probably from the coronavirus. Among the state's 67 counties, the daily COVID-19 Dashboard list 143 new cases from Shelby County and 140 from Jefferson County. Those were the only counties with triple-digit increases for the latest 24-hour reporting period. Read more.
In Alabama, 19 of the state’s more than 2,000 deaths from the coronavirus have been among inmates incarcerated in state prisons. The inmates who have died with a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 have mostly been over 60, with one under 40. Most of the deceased inmates had preexisting conditions, and some already had terminal diagnoses. Several of the prisoners who died were serving life sentences. “All inmate or staff deaths reported as COVID-19-related by the ADOC occurred following a positive COVID-19 diagnosis. COVID-19 therefore was either a direct or indirect cause of death, or a medical condition associated with death,” said Alabama Department of Corrections communication specialist Samantha Rose. “Our goal is to transparently track and share the disease’s evolving impact on our system, including all deaths conclusively or likely related to COVID-19.” Read about Alabama inmates who have died after being diagnosed with the coronavirus. Read more.
