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.
After two days of decline, the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Alabama shot up by 882 Thursday, the state Department of Public Health reported. The agency’s daily report, showing changes from 10 a.m. Wednesday and 10 a.m. Thursday, also showed a big increase in deaths, with the number rising by 17 for a total of 801 since the pandemic began in March. The new report marked a return to an acceleration in the number of cases that began last Thursday, June 11. The figures trended upward for four days, reaching 1,014 new cases on Sunday, before declining daily to as low as 390 on Wednesday. The surge was led by Montgomery County, long the COVID-19 hotspot in Alabama. The central Alabama county reported 271 new cases, bringing its total to 3,059, the most in the state. The county reported two deaths, raising its overall figure to 63. Read more.
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.
Dr. Michael Saag has become frustrated with the public. The infectious disease doctor and COVID-19 survivor said recently that he knows people have become impatient with the continuing pandemic and are tired of changing their lifestyles to accommodate it. But the reaction from the public has been “not very mature,” he said during the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham’s Community Call last week. In fact, he said he’d give Alabamians an F in their ability to carry out public health advice that would have tamped down the virus – maintaining social distance, wearing face masks and staying home as much as is practical, among them. As a result, the state’s coronavirus cases have once again been rising, to the point that Alabama has shown more new cases than the entire country of Germany. That danger isn’t going away anytime soon. Saag said the novel coronavirus will be with us for a least another year – until doctors develop an effective vaccine or early treatment. Watch Saag’s presentation.
For the third day in a row, the number of new COVID-19 cases in Alabama dropped on Wednesday, as did the number of deaths from the disease. The state recorded 390 confirmed new cases from 10 a.m. Tuesday to 10 a.m. Wednesday, bringing the total since the pandemic began in mid-March to 26,914. There were five deaths during that period to raise the total to 784, the Alabama Department of Public Health’s daily report showed. The report listed 398 cases and six deaths that officials say are probably from COVID-19 but have yet to be confirmed. Read more.
Birmingham can expect an $18.3 million budgetary shortfall for the 2020 fiscal year because of the pandemic, Finance Director Lester Smith told the City Council Tuesday. And he warned that the economic impact on the city’s FY 2021 budget could be nearly four times that. Mayor Randall Woodfin, calling the situation an “economic crisis,” said that the dip in revenue means “painful” budget cuts are likely on the way. The COVID-19 pandemic and the city’s subsequent “shelter-in-place” order led to a significant drop in business tax revenue for the city, Smith said. That revenue, which includes sales, use and occupational taxes, typically accounts for 81.3% of the city’s overall budget. Read more.
The number of new COVID-19 cases in Alabama dropped slightly Tuesdsay for the second consecutive day. There were 632 new confirmed cases from 10 a.m. Monday until 10 a.m. Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 26,524 since the pandemic began in mid-March, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported. There were 10 new deaths, raising the overall total to 779. In addition, there were 380 patients who are believed to have COVID-19 but whose cases have not been confirmed as being from the disease, and five deaths thought to have been from the disease. Read more.
A fourth inmate in the Alabama prison system has died after testing positive for the coronavirus. Read more.
The number of hospital patients with COVID-19 and people testing positive for the virus continues to spiral across Alabama and in Jefferson County, health experts participating in a UAB Hospital press conference said Monday. In the past seven to 14 days, 8% of people tested for the coronavirus had been showing positive results. But in the past seven days, that proportion has risen to 13%, said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of UAB’s Division of Infectious Diseases. Seattle, once a hotspot, is now down to 1.5%, she added. Today, UAB has 68 COVID-19 patients, which Marazzo said is the highest number ever. Usually about half the UAB patients with COVID-19 are on ventilators. Read more.
Gov. Kay Ivey's office said this morning that the governor and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris are closely monitoring the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases in the state. "Until our next update, Gov. Ivey continues to reiterate that the threat of this virus is not behind us," her press secretary, Gina Maiola, said in an emailed response to BirminghamWatch. She said Ivey continues to stress the need for personal responsibility during the pandemic. "Our health care workers are doing their part. We are seeing businesses make sacrifices, and Gov. Ivey has faith in the people of Alabama to be smart as we wade through this health crisis," Maiola added. Alabama is among 21 states that have seen increases in their average daily coronavirus cases this week, according to data compiled by the Washington Post. Alabama, Oregon and South Carolina are among the states with the biggest increases. Alabama reported a 92% increase in its seven-day average; Oregon was up 83.8% and South Carolina, 60.3%, according to the Post data. Read more.
