Science

Alabama Nursing Homes and Assisted Living Facilities Screening Visitors to Battle Risk of Coronavirus; National Groups Advise Strict Limits

Alabama nursing home and national assisted living officials are taking the coronavirus threat seriously enough to analyze visitors’ health even though Alabama did not have any reported cases of the virus late Tuesday. The president of the American Health Care Association, Mark Parkinson, on Tuesday advised nursing homes and assisted living centers to curtail social visits and take steps to keep some employees away. Parkinson recommended that family members not visit nursing homes. Parkinson called the mortality rate at five Seattle-area nursing homes “shocking.” While Alabama nursing home officials have not gone that far, they have increased security for visitors at most nursing homes. Read more.

PSC Hearing Starts Monday on Alabama Power Request to Add $1.1 Billion in Energy Capacity

Alabama Power Company says it needs to add $1.1 billion in energy sources to meet future demand for electricity. Major industries, environmental groups and clean energy advocates are among those opposing the move. The company says adding the resources, predominantly from natural gas generation, will allow it to meet customer needs for years to come. It estimates the expansion would cost residential customers an average of $4 per month. Alabama Power reduced its prices by 3% this year, meaning an estimated $4.50 per month reduction for the typical residential customer. A multi-day hearing on the matter will be heard by an administrative law judge beginning at 10 a.m. Monday before the issue goes to the Public Service Commission offices. Read more.

Coronavirus Disrupts Alabama Colleges and Businesses

Troy University sophomore Nicholas Gil had been planning a trip to China since September to further his education during spring break. Those plans ended abruptly, however, when the airlines began canceling flights and colleges and universities across Alabama suspended travel due to the coronavirus spreading around the world. “I was majorly disappointed,” said Gil, whose canceled trip was part of the Confucius Institute at Troy. Confucius institutes are affiliated with the Chinese Ministry of Education to teach Americans about Chinese business, education, culture and public interests. The coronavirus is disrupting the lives of students, faculty members and business people across Alabama as entities race to protect their constituents and prevent the introduction and spread of the virus onto their sites. Read more.

Mental Health Bills Advancing in State House

MONTGOMERY — Lawmakers this week began taking action on a package of bills and resolutions related to mental health in Alabama. “The mental health problem in Alabama is an epidemic, not just a problem,” said Sen. Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman. “The Legislature before most of us got here had to cut the funding … because we were in the Great Recession in 2010. “We’re feeling the repercussions of that now in today’s society from more and more people that are needing in-patient and out-patient (mental health care), there’s not enough on both sides,” he said. Those cuts included the closures of three mental health hospitals in 2012 and 2015. Read more.

Jefferson County Commissioners Talk About Preparations in Case Coronavirus Hits the Area

The coronavirus is the subject on everyone’s lips, so it likely didn’t surprise Jefferson County Commissioners Jimmie Stephens and Joe Knight when the subject came up recently. The pair addressed questions from media about the county’s preparedness for the deadly virus. UAB Medicine was cited as a key part of the army that will battle the disease. Watch the interviews.

State Health Officer: State Focused on Coronavirus Prevention, Alabamians Should Be Aware, Not Afraid

As the coronavirus spreads worldwide and the number of confirmed cases in the United States increases, the state’s top health official says Alabama is in a “prevention stance” and encourages Alabamians to prepare for this virus like they do the flu. “This is a situation that is changing very quickly,” Alabama Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris told Alabama Daily News on Thursday. Since the outbreak was first reported in China in late 2019, the Alabama Department of Public Health has monitored more than 100 Alabamians who have returned from China and other places the virus is known to be, Harris said. That monitoring includes making daily phone calls to check on the individuals and encouraging “social distancing,” avoiding large crowds and public places. Harris this week sent the state’s universities and colleges letters with guidance about limiting for at least 14 days public interactions for anyone returning from China or any other country with active community transmission. A few of the Alabamians being monitored have presented coronavirus symptoms, which are similar to flu symptoms, but no one has tested positive for the new disease, referred to as COVID-19. Harris said Alabamians should be aware of the developing situation, “There is no need to be afraid, since we don’t have community transmissions in our state.” Read more.

What to Know About the New Coronavirus and COVID-19

What to Know About the New Coronavirus and COVID-19

Symptoms and prevention — According to the CDC, the new coronavirus and the disease it causes, COVID-19: Spreads mainly through person-to-person contact via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes; Has symptoms that include fever, cough and shortness of breath and may appear two to 14 days after exposure; Currently has no vaccine,

‘Alternative Cover’ Landfill Bill Moves Forward; ADEM Says Coal Ash No Longer Permitted Material

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation that clarifies landfills’ ability to use materials other than dirt to cover new garbage each day. Previously approved “alternative cover” materials have included shredded vehicle components from scrapped cars, contaminated soil and coal ash. The Alabama Department of Environmental Management said Thursday that it no longer allows the use of coal ash as cover and, while a Walker County landfill still has a permit to use it, it soon will not. Sponsor Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, said House Bill 140 is needed to codify what ADEM has allowed for about three decades. “It would be up to ADEM to decide in permits what covers are allowed,” Baker said on the House floor. Read more.

More Alabama Farmers Sign up to Grow Hemp

Jon Hegeman’s newest crop looks like marijuana. It’s got towering, feathery flowers — aka buds — and those tell-tale multi-fingered leaves. “This is the closest thing you’ll have in Alabama to marijuana,” said Hegeman, a hemp farmer and president and co-owner of Greenway Plants. For the first time in almost 90 years, it’s now legal to grow hemp in the U.S., including in Alabama. The passage of the 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from a list of drugs the federal government says have a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use. Read more.

McClintock: Discovery of Warm Water Under Glacier Bodes Ill for Sea Level Rise

News of warmer water under a huge western Antarctic glacier should catch the attention of folks along coastal Alabama, a UAB polar scientist said this week. Last week scientists announced that sea water under the Florida-sized Thwaites Glacier is 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than expected. That’s a finding that UAB polar scientist James B. McClintock expects will push expected sea level rise toward the upper range of the 0.9 to 3.6 feet predicted last year by the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change. “This is something we care about in Alabama, because it’s going to increase the calculations for sea level rise on the Gulf Coast. It’s going to be important to you if you’re living in especially low-lying areas like Bayou la Batre or the western side of Dauphin Island, for example,” McClintock said. McClintock, a UAB Endowed University Professor of Polar and Marine Biology, is scheduled to deliver talks Thursday to the Cahaba River Society annual meeting and Saturday during a community dialogue of the Citizens’ Climate Education-Birmingham. Read more.