Weather Safety Is Higher Priority Than Social Distancing, Health Officials Say
With severe weather in the forecast for much of Alabama this weekend, what’s more important: Taking shelter in the event of a tornado warning, or social distancing to fight spread of the coronavirus? The top priority should be protecting yourself and your family from a tornado, the state Department of Public Health said in a statement issued Saturday. The agency urged people to make plans in advance of severe weather. The National Weather Service has issued statements warning of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes across central and north Alabama from Sunday afternoon until early Monday. Read more.
Just four weeks ago, Alabama had not been touched by the novel coronavirus.
But on March 13, the state had its first two confirmed cases of the disease. In less than two weeks, by the time the state had its first death, the case count had topped 500.
By April 1, cases topped 1,000 and 26 people had died. Within three days, more than 1,500 cases had been confirmed and two days after that, cases topped 2,000.
On Thursday, three days later, cases are up to 2,703; 70 people have died; and 333 people have been hospitalized since that first case was confirmed, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health’s COVID-10 data and surveillance dashboard.
The situation in the state is forecast to get worse before it gets better.