Category: Science
Masks Up, Health Department Advises as COVID Continues to Climb Again
It’s time for Alabamians who do not want to catch COVID to put back on their masks.
That was the advice from the Alabama Department of Public Health this week as cases continued to increase across the state.
After the state’s positivity rate dropped to single digits in the spring and hospitals cleared out their overflow patients, people began to think the pandemic was over.
It is not.
Hospitalizations have been rising in recent weeks, and 677 people diagnosed with COVID were in Alabama hospitals Friday, According to the Alabama Department of Public Health’s COVID dashboard.
That’s the highest number since February, but it’s not nearly the almost 3,000 daily average COVID patients in hospitals in January.
The state’s positivity rate, which shows the portion of people who were officially tested for COVID-19 and returned a positive result, has risen to 30.2%. Read more.
Abortion-Rights Group Navigates ‘Unprecedented’ Legal Territory in Alabama
The Yellowhammer Fund has temporarily stopped funding abortion care for people in Alabama, amid legal concerns for clients and staff. Read more.
The Supreme Court’s EPA Decision Could Hamper Regulators’ Ability to Protect the Public
The agency will still be allowed to regulate many forms of air pollution but would need explicit direction from Congress on how to tackle some of the worst aspects of climate change and other pressing issues. Read more.
Birmingham Directs COVID Funds to Public Safety, Public Works and Councilors’ Projects
The Birmingham City Council voted Tuesday to allocate roughly one-third of its remaining federal COVID relief funds among the city’s police department, fire and rescue, public works and “district-specific and citywide council projects.” Read more.
Jefferson County Health Providers ‘Well Equipped’ for The World Games
Officials plan to treat as many people as possible at on site medical tents. They say the biggest concern is heat-related illness. Read more.
Birmingham Area at High Risk of COVID Transmission
Every county in the Birmingham metropolitan area except Blount has been moved into the high-risk category for COVID-19 transmission.
Jefferson County’s positivity rate has been rising and now stands at 25%, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health, and the county has had an average of 291 new cases a day for the past seven days. Hospital admissions in the county are up somewhat, with 10 more patients over last week, for a 2% increase.
The swath of counties with high transmission risks means residents need to exercise more care, including making sure their vaccinations are up to date and wearing masks if they are at a high risk from the virus, said Dr. Wesley Willeford, Jefferson County Health Department’s medical director of disease control. He said health officials see no need now to issue mandates as they did in 2020. Read more.
Roe Overturned: What You Need to Know About the Supreme Court Abortion Decision
After half a century, Americans’ constitutional right to get an abortion has been overturned by the Supreme Court.
The ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization – handed down on June 24, 2022 – has far-reaching consequences. The Conversation asked Nicole Huberfeld and Linda C. McClain, health law and constitutional law experts at Boston University, to explain what just happened and what happens next. Read more.
Residents in SuperFund Site Seek City’s Help to Move
North Birmingham residents looking to be relocated from their environmentally contaminated properties will have to continue waiting — though, Mayor Randall Woodfin assured them, that “long conversation” is far from over.
Charlie Powell, a longtime resident of the city’s Collegeville neighborhood, asked officials during Tuesday’s council meeting for an update on relocation efforts for residents of the EPA’s 35th Avenue Superfund Site, which includes parts of Collegeville, Harriman Park and Fairmont.
“I’ve been fighting this battle for 10 years, and I have some concerns from some of the people,” Powell said. “They want to know, what are the plans for the relocation that we asked for? … We’re right in the mouth of this thing!”
The area received the federal superfund designation in 2012 due to high levels of soil contamination. Read more.
Déjà Vu: Two Years Later, and Coronavirus Case Levels Are Virtually the Same
The number of new coronavirus cases a day in Alabama now is almost exactly the same as it was two years ago heading into Memorial Day. Cases have been trending upward for more than a month, and Alabama averaged 510 new cases a day in the 7-day period that ended Friday, according to information from the Alabama Department of Public Health. At this time in 2020, Alabama was averaging 501 cases per day. Read more.
As COVID Cases Creep Up, Health Officials Advise Watching Local Levels
Federal health officials have moved three northeast Alabama counties out of the COVID community low-risk category into a medium-risk level. The counties are Madison, Jackson and Limestone. The move comes after state health officials have watched the average number of statewide COVID cases grow from 100 a day around the first of May with a 2.5% positivity rate to 400 cases per day with a 9.4% positivity rate this week. Read more.
