Science

Absentee Ballots Hit Jefferson County Like a “Monsoon,” Clerk Says

Alabama set a high for absentee ballots in 2012, when 89,000 were successfully cast. But Secretary of State John Merrill said the state is on pace to surpass that number. “For the Nov. 3 general election, we've actually had more than 125,000 ballot applications that have been submitted to us and more than 50,000 that have been successfully returned already,” he said. “As you can see,” Merrill said, “we're going to shatter that record.” But the secretary of state said election officials in the state’s 67 counties aren’t worried because they’re ready. “We've already made preparations for this, hiring additional people, enabling more than what we would perceive the necessary number of tabulators to be available on election day to process the ballots,” he said. Read more.

by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.

Social Distancing, Hand Washing and Masks: UAB Tips to Protect Yourself From the Coronavirus

Health experts repeatedly have said the best ways to avoid the coronavirus are thorough handwashing, wearing a mask and social distancing. Here are reminders from UAB experts on how to do those things effectively.

by BirminghamWatch

More Coronavirus News From BirminhamWatch

Read BirminghamWatch’s coverage of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

by BirminghamWatch

Daily Dashboard Adds 1,043 Cases of COVID-19 on Thursday

Alabama recorded 1,043 new cases of COVID-19 in Thursday's daily update by the state Department of Public Health. The agency's dashboard showed a total of 155,744 cases in Alabama since the pandemic began in March. That includes 138,162 confirmed cases and 17,582 listed as probable. The number of total cases has grown by 7,538 over the past week and 13,987 over the past two weeks. Thursday's report listed eight new deaths. There have been 2,548 deaths in Alabama from the disease, including 2,405 confirmed and 143 probable, the dashboard showed. Read more.

by Glenn Stephens

Gov. Ivey Extends COVID-19 Mask Order

Gov. Kay Ivey extended a statewide face mask order through Nov. 8. The order requires face masks to be worn in public to try to limit the spread of coronavirus. Ivey made the announcement at a press conference Wednesday. The rule was set to expire Friday, but the new deadline extends it past Election Day and much of the remaining high school and college football seasons. Read more.

by Gigi Douban, WBHM

ADPH Reports Jump in COVID-19 Count

The Alabama Department of Public Health reported a large increase Wednesday in the number of new cases of COVID-19 in the state, but officials said the figures include older information from a testing lab. The agency's daily dashboard showed 1,147 total new cases of the disease, up from 571 in the previous day's report. ADPH said a laboratory transmitted statistics into the system that included cases from an unspecified number of previous days, inflating the daily total. The dashboard listed 154,701 cases in Alabama since the pandemic began in March. That includes 137,564 cases that are confirmed to have been from the disease and 17,137 that are listed as probable. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

571 New Cases, 16 Deaths from COVID-19 Listed in Tuesday Report

Alabama recorded 571 new cases of COVID-19 and 16 deaths in Tuesday's 0vernight report by the state Department of Public Health. There have been 153,554 cases of the disease since the pandemic began in March, the agency's daily dashboard showed. Of those, 136,549 are confirmed to have been from the coronavirus and 17,005 are listed as probable. The death toll reached 2,517, with 2,378 confirmed and 139 probable. Read more.

by Glenn Stephens

No COVID-19 Deaths in Alabama for Second Consecutive Day

There were 662 new cases of COVID-19 in Alabama but no new deaths for the second consecutive day, according to Monday's 24-hour update by the state Department of Public Health. The number of total cases rose to 152,983, including 136,055 confirmed cases and 16,928 probable cases. The death toll stood at 2,501, including 2,364 confirmed to have been from COVID-19 and 137 listed as probable. That has not changed since an increase of 10 cases was reported Saturday. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Local Health Officials Worry CDC Has ‘Lost Its Soul’

As Dr. Mark Wilson prepared to release advice in July that middle schools and high schools in Birmingham should not open for in-person learning this fall, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed its position and issued the opposite recommendation. Wilson, health officer for Jefferson County, stuck to his at-home schooling decision, but now without support from what had long been regarded as the nation’s most esteemed public health authority. Not only that, he said some of the vexed parents even cited the CDC in attacking his stand. It felt like the limb he was out on had been sawed off at the trunk. “That guidance gave me one of the worst weeks of my life,” Wilson recalled in an interview with Stateline. The agency’s revised advice came on the heels of President Donald Trump’s vigorous call for a full, face-to-face school reopening. But it conflicted with what Wilson and other public health officials knew were disturbing results from a credible South Korean study, which, contrary to popular belief, found that older children were a greater risk for transmitting the virus than younger children. That made reopening middle and high schools more problematic. Since the pandemic began, a string of messages from the Trump administration, many lacking scientific evidence, have confounded the work of state and local public health authorities who have the already challenging job of convincing people to abide by restrictions that many find not only onerous but also economically punishing. Read more.

by Christine Vestal and Michael Ollove, Stateline, an initiative of The Pew Charitable Trusts

730 New COVID-19 Cases in Alabama in Sunday Report

Alabama reported 730 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday and had no additional deaths, according the state Department of Public Health's daily update. There have been 135,554 confirmed cases of the disease and 16,767 probable cases for a total of 152,321 since the pandemic began in March. The agency has reported 2,364 deaths that were confirmed to have been from the coronavirus and 137 listed as probable for a total of 2,501. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch