Coronavirus

Vaccinated Jefferson County, You Can Put Away Your Masks!

Let’s see that smile, Jefferson County. As of Tuesday, the county has been classified as having a moderate rate of transmission of COVID-19 based on CDC guidelines, meaning persons who are fully vaccinated need not wear a mask in public, indoor settings. The move to drop the classification from substantial reflects two main factors: the total number of new cases per 100,000 persons in the past seven days and the percentage of COVID nucleic acid amplification tests that have been positive over the past seven days, said Dr. Wesley Willeford, medical director of Disease Control for the Jefferson County Department of Health. Willeford said Thursday that moderate transmission means, “We would be seeing between 10-49.99 new cases of Covid per 100,000 persons in the past seven days and our percent positive would be between 5-7.99%.” Willeford said Jefferson County currently has a 4.1% positivity rate for COVID-19 cases and 45.1 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 persons. The no mask requirement in public indoor settings comes through guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But it does not apply to those who have not yet been vaccinated. Another caveat from the CDC is that persons who may be at higher risk for bad outcomes related to COVID-19 may still benefit from wearing a mask. Willeford describes those persons as older than 65 or who have weakened immune systems or other high-risk conditions. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

Benefits of Vaccines for Kids 5-11 Far Outweigh Risks, UAB Doc Says

The benefits of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5 to 11, which is slated to go to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for approval next week, far outweigh its risk to children, said Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of UAB and Children's of Alabama's pediatrics division. He called his press conference Wednesday the most upbeat one in months, saying the delta variant of COVID-19 has receded. But the doctor warned that if another virus variant surfaces, the public should increase preventative measures. Kimberlin said vaccine data given Tuesday by an external advisory board to the FDA about the safety of vaccines for ages 5 to 11 is “incontrovertible.” Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

Alabama’s COVID Deaths at Lowest Level Since August

The number of deaths in Alabama that are attributed to the COVID-19 virus has finally started to decrease in earnest, after averaging more than 100 per day as recently as a month ago. In BirminghamWatch’s periodic analysis of the state’s pandemic data, the 7-day moving average of deaths dropped into the teens Wednesday, now standing at 17.29 per day. The longer term 14-day average is still roughly double that number, checking in at 32.29, but is also in a decline. Both averages were at 100 or more in the latter part of September as the delta-variant surge swept through Alabama. As has been the case during the pandemic, deaths have lagged new COVID cases by about three to six weeks. The peak of the 7-day case average was reached on Sept. 1, while the peak of the deaths average came on Sept. 23. This follows the pattern of the original alpha-variant surge in December through February. Hospitalizations of COVID patients continues its steady decrease, with the Alabama Hospital Association reporting 482 inpatients as of Tuesday. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Dropping COVID Case Rates Ease Pressure on Alabama Health Care System

The surge of COVID-19 that plagued Alabama and the nation over the summer continued its decline over the past week as summer gave way to fall. The number of new cases reported each day by the Alabama Department of Public Health has fallen by more than 60% since the beginning of October. The 7-day moving average fell to 784 on Wednesday, a drop of 12% in the past seven days. The longer-term 14-day average fell to 838.57, a decrease of almost two-thirds from Oct. 1. Since the Delta-induced summer surge peaked Sept. 1 with a 7-day average of 5,538, the new-case numbers have tumbled by more than 85%. The current level is still well above the low set just after Independence Day, 3½ months ago, when the average bottomed out at 121 cases per day. The steady decrease is also shown in the state’s hospitalization numbers. Read more.

by Robert Carter

As Vaccine Bills Threaten Lawsuits, Business Groups Line Up in Opposition

A north Alabama lawmaker wants to prohibit Alabama businesses and agencies from requiring their employees or patrons to be immunized. House Bill 31 also says that anyone fired or discriminated against because of their immunization status — it doesn’t specifically mention COVID-19 — can sue the business or entity, which range in the bill from amusement parks to zoos. “I feel like it’s my body, my choice,” Rep. Ritchie Whorton, a two-term Republican from Owens Cross Roads, told Alabama Daily News on Monday. “No one is going to tell me I have to put something in my body. It’s not right.” The bill isn’t yet available on the Legislature’s website, but copies are floating around Montgomery — and drawing opposition from some of Alabama’s most influential organizations. “(The Business Council of Alabama) is opposed to HB 31 and any similar legislation that opens Alabama businesses up to frivolous lawsuits,” BCA Vice President Susan Carothers told ADN. “Very few, if any, laws have been introduced in the Alabama Legislature with more onerous provisions against business than HB 31,” the Alabama Civil Justice Reform Committee said in a letter opposing the bill. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

The Decline of Delta: Alabama’s COVID Case Daily Average Falls Below 1,000, Down 86% From Peak

The effects of the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus have subsided in Alabama almost as quickly as they peaked. In a BirminghamWatch analysis of the state’s pandemic data, the 7-day moving average of new daily cases has fallen below the 1,000 mark, six weeks after it surpassed 5,500 — the highest reading since the pandemic began in March 2020. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported on Wednesday that the 7-day average stands at 893.14 new cases per day. That reading comes a day after dropping below 1,000 and is now roughly one-seventh of the record set Sept. 1. By comparison, the recent Delta surge took seven weeks to skyrocket from the previous low point of 121 cases per day on July 7 to the peak. And though the current level is still considerably higher than that low point, the downward direction of the curve is very close to the inverse of the upward slope in summer. Read more.

by Robert Carter, BirminghamWatch

COVID-19 Federal Funds in Alabama Total $46B, Contribute to Big 2021 Tax Revenues

About $46.8 billion. Billion with a B. That’s how much federal COVID-19 relief money has gone to Alabama residents, businesses and government agencies since the pandemic began. About $30.3 billion of that has been given directly to individuals and businesses to assist them, Kirk Fulford, deputy director of the Legislative Services Agency, told state lawmakers recently. About $6.3 billion was in the Paycheck Protection Program, forgivable loans to help businesses weather the economic drought caused by COVID-related shutdowns. And nearly twice that much, $12.6 billion, has gone directly to individuals in stimulus checks. The money had a big impact on the state’s record tax receipts for fiscal 2021, which ended last week, Fulford said. That’s especially true in the Education Trust Fund, where sales and income tax are the main contributors. Read more.

by Mary Sell, Alabama Daily News

COVID Hospitalizations in Alabama Drop Below 1,000 for First Time in 12 Weeks

The number of COVID-19 patients in Alabama hospitals has fallen below 1,000 for the first time since mid-July as case numbers continue to tumble since the peak from a summer surge of the delta variant. There were 970 patients being treated for the coronavirus in hospitals around the state on Friday, according to the Alabama Hospital Association. That is the lowest since a total of 957 on July 16, and down by about 66% since the inpatient count reached a peak of 2,890 on Sept. 1. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 919 new cases of COVID in its daily update on Saturday. The state averaged 1,097 new cases a day over the past week, almost 77% below the average of 3,962 cases per day on Sept. 8. ADPH has reported 807,479 cases since the pandemic began in March 2020. Read more.

by Birmingham Watch

Alabama’s Daily COVID Case Count Drops by 70% During Past Month

The average number of new COVID-19 cases per day has fallen by about 70% over the past month as the vaccination rate has grown, according to Friday's update by the state Department of Public Health. There were 1,048 new cases on Friday, raising the total to 806,560 since the pandemic began in March 2020. The state has averaged 1,177 new cases a day during the past week -- about 70% lower than the weekly average of 3,962 cases on Sept. 8. Figures compiled by The New York Times show that, through Thursday, 53% of adults in Alabama had received at least one dose of one of the COVID vaccines, and 43% were full vaccinated. Less than one-third of Alabamians were fully vaccinated during the summer. Alabama has moved up from last among the states in vaccination rates to fourth from the bottom. Read more.

by Birmingham Watch

Federal Covid Relief Funds Enabled Churches and Other Religious Organizations to Pay Employees

Ava Wise was thinking first of others as she considered what would have happened if the federal Paycheck Protection Program had not provided her employer with money to pay her during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. “We may not have been open to serve people,” said Wise, director of Project Hopewell, a nonprofit formed under Hopewell Baptist Church in Birmingham’s Hillman Station Neighborhood. Effects of the COVID-19 relief program hit close to home for Wise and others who benefited from federal relief money that was paid to businesses, state and local governments, and churches and other organizations. Without the payroll assistance, she said, “We can't pay our bills. We can’t buy food. It cuts off our livelihood.” Although it is unusual for churches, synagogues, mosques and groups with religious affiliations to receive taxpayer money, many were awarded federal stimulus funds during the pandemic. While churches may be tax-exempt, their employees pay taxes to city, state and federal governments. The U.S. Small Business Administration’s PPP program was designed to cover the payrolls of recipients. A review by BirminghamWatch of federal records listed about 321 applicants from Jefferson County that identified themselves as religious organizations received loans totaling $39.7 million during a 14-month period under the PPP program. Read more.

by Nancy Wilstach and Solomon Crenshaw Jr.