MONTGOMERY — Grocery retailers are implementing new safety measures and limiting the number of people inside their stores in an effort to keep employees and customers safe from the novel coronavirus. Read more.
Parenting is hard enough as it is, much less during a world pandemic. Schools and child care centers are closed across Alabama and many people are working from home. That means families may be bumping up against each other more than usual. One place that’s seen is through the Parenting Assistance Line (PAL). The organization
UAB doctors hope a low-risk, FDA-approved drug to be tested at UAB Hospital will serve as a “rescue therapy” for ventilated patients with lungs seriously damaged by the coronavirus, COVID-19. UAB is among the first in the nation to offer inhaled nitric oxide as a potential viable treatment in its intensive care unit for the sickest of these patients, officials said in a telephone news conference. Read more.
About 700 veterans live in the state’s four veterans homes, and one of them has now tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. “Currently, the veteran’s symptoms are improving and the veteran continues to be cared for in isolation,” the state Department of Veterans Affairs stated today in a news release. The veteran who tested positive is 77 years old and lives at the Bill Nichols State Veterans Home in Alexander City. Read more.
Blacks make up a minority of the population of Alabama, but they account for more than half the number of people who have died of COVID-19 in the state, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health. The department on Wednesday reported that 61 people who tested positive for the disease have died, and 48 of the deaths were confirmed to be the result of COVID-19. Officials were verifying whether the remaining 13 died from the coronavirus. The figures covered reports through Tuesday, April 7. The racial breakdown of the 48 who were confirmed to have died of the virus showed that 52.1% were black; 37.5% were white; 7.7% were Asian; and the rest were of unknown race. Read more.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced people apart, it has also created a common ground for millions -- by making many work from home. For some workers who are also parents, functioning in the home office environment has brought a particular challenge into focus: managing the job and the kids at the same time. To get some perspective on how big a deal this might be, consider this: two years ago, it was estimated that 3.6 percent of the American workforce was working at home -- 5 million people, according to GlobalworkplaceAnalytics.com, drawing its conclusions from the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau. Since the coronavirus pandemic prompted office closures and other social distancing measures, even more people have retreated to their home offices. How many? One estimate has 56% of the workforce with jobs compatible with remote work. Read more.
Alabama’s 33,000-member agriculture workforce continues to operate as essential, but the coronavirus has impacted how much some will get paid for their work. “Crops still have to get in the ground, cattle have to be doctored,” Brady Ragland, a commodity director for Alabama Farmers Federation, told Alabama Daily News. “Those activities have to go on.” Some agriculture enterprises — such as farmers markets and cattle auctions — have shifted online where possible because of the coronavirus. But even before the pandemic, farmers were bracing for a tough year. “Farm income is expected to be considerably lower,” Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture Rick Pate said last week. “Commodity prices including cotton, corn, milk and live cattle have fallen significantly. The coronavirus outbreak has affected commodity prices across the board and is likely to do so for several months.” Read more.
Fitz Hand Painted Signs, a Homewood business, left this message of encouragement on the side of Battle Republic, a boxing fitness club. (Source: Tom Gordon)
Alabama has 65 reported deaths of people who tested positive for COVID-19, the state Department of Public Health, reported today. Updated figures show that 48 of those deaths have been officially attributed to the disease, with the remainder under investigation. The number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state rose to 2,229. Read more.
• 17 privately run hospitals have closed in Alabama since 2010, seven in rural areas. • 88% of rural hospitals operate in the red. • 36 counties have only one hospital, seven have no hospitals. The COVID-19 pandemic hasn’t hit its peak in Alabama yet, and when it does, it could be a major disaster for the state’s health care infrastruc-ture, according to Dr. Donald Williamson. “I’m seeing this whole thing as a tsunami,” he said. “Right now, for most of the state, we’re in that pre-tsunami period where the water is actually being pulled out to sea and everything looks quiet. I think you’re already beginning to see the tip of the tsunami in Birmingham and other places, and I think the tsunami will over the next several weeks and months wash over the state, causing great devastation to our health care sys-tem.” As president and CEO of the Alabama Hospital Association, Williamson has watched Alabama’s medical infrastructure deteriorate over the past 10 years. Read more.
