Science

COVID Case Count Tops 150,000

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Alabama eclipsed the 150,000 mark on Friday, and the number of deaths approached the 2,500 level, according to the state Department of Public Health. The agency added 798 confirmed cases and 1,654 probable cases to its dashboard Friday, pushing its totals to 134,231 confirmed cases and 16,427 probable cases. The total since the pandemic began in March is 150,658 overall. There were eight new deaths Friday, increasing deaths to 2,357 confirmed and 134 probable for a total of 2,491. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Number of New COVID-19 Cases Leaps to 981 in Thursday Report

The number of confirmed new cases of COVID-19 in Alabama more than doubled from the previous day's total in Thursday's 24-hour update by the state Department of Public Health. The agency reported 464 confirmed new cases on Wednesday, and that figure grew to 981 on Thursday. Another 14,773 cases were listed as probable. The increase pushed the daily number of new cases to an average of 762 over the past week, the highest average since a figure of 798 on Sept. 4. The 14-day average stood at 726 cases a day, the most since an average of 741 on Sept. 11. Thursday's COVID-19 Dashboard listed 14 deaths, for a total of 2,349 since the pandemic began in March. An additional 157 deaths are shown as probable. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Alabama’s COVID-19 New Case Averages Mixed, Death Reports Turning Upward

After several weeks of Alabama COVID-19 numbers moving in a positive direction, the data is starting to level off or take a slight turn for the worse. In BirminghamWatch’s weekly analysis of data reported by the Alabama Department of Public Health, the 7-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases for the period ending Wednesday is 704.14 per day, down by two cases per day from a week ago. The longer-term 14-day average has risen to 705.14; that’s an increase of just more than the average 40 cases per day posted seven days ago. The percentage increase in the number of new positives rose by an average of 0.54% per day over the past seven days, with the average wavering little from that level for three straight weeks. Read more.

by Robert Carter

CDC Statements Stoke Confusion Over How the Coronavirus Spreads

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday released an updated statement on the spread of coronavirus in the air, then three days later removed that statement from its website, saying it had not been approved for posting. There are debates about why the statement was issued and revoked, but it’s clear that the stumble has added to the confusion among the public about how the virus spreads. Dr. Wesley Willeford, medical director for disease control at the Jefferson County Department of Health, said that does not change the precautions people should be taking. Wearing a mask whenever in public and keeping a social distance of at least six feet is still the best advice health officials can give people to avoid contracting the disease, he said. Read more.

by Michelle Love

COVID-19 Daily Case Count Drops, But Number of Deaths Rises

Alabama recorded its lowest daily number of confirmed cases in more than two weeks but the highest number of deaths in more than a week on Wednesday in the state Department of Public Health's 24-hour COVID-19 update. There were 464 confirmed cases of the disease, down from 583 on Tuesday and the fewest since a count of 405 on Sept. 8. The state has listed 132,452 confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March, plus 14,701 presumed cases for a total of 147,153. It is averaging 704 cases a day over the past week and 705 daily over the past 14 days. The COVID-19 Dashboard showed 31 new deaths, the most since a total of 32 on Sept. 15. There have been 2,335 confirmed deaths, plus 153 presumed for an overall total of 2,488. Read more. 

by BirminghamWatch

Protestors Not Allowed Into Birmingham Council Meeting to Speak on Drastic Cuts to the Library Budget

Protestors gathered outside Birmingham City Hall on Tuesday morning, but they weren’t allowed to speak at the City Council meeting going on three stories above them. The demonstrators held signs that read “Reject Woodfin’s Budget,” “Furlough Woodfin” and “Fund Books Not Brutality.” One neon-yellow sign read: “Dear Randall Woodfin & City Council: Y’all have got to do a better job pretending to care …” On Friday, the Birmingham Public Library’s board of trustees made the decision to furlough 157 employees, the result of significant cuts in the budget recommended by Mayor Randall Woodfin’s office. Read more.

by Sam Prickett

State Adds 583 COVID-19 Cases, 12 Deaths in Tuesday Update

Alabama recorded 583 confirmed new cases of COVID-19, plus 12 deaths from the disease, in Tuesday's daily update by the state Department of Public Health.  There have been 131,988 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March, plus 14,596 probable cases for a total of 146,584. The death totals stood at 2,304 confirmed, 153 probable and a total of 2,457. Probable cases are those in which a person has a positive antibody test or has symptoms, has been exposed to the coronavirus but has not been tested. A totalof 16,487 people have been hospitalized in Alabama with COVID-19 during the pandemic. There were 802 individuals in hospitals on Monday, the daily report said. That is up from 972 a week earlier but down from the total of  1,168 a month ago and the high of 1,613 on Aug. 6. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

754 New Cases of COVID-19 Reported for Alabama

There were 754 confirmed new cases of COVID-19 and two deaths from the disease listed in Monday's update by the Alabama Department of Public Health. Those figures pushed the number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March to 131,405 and the number of confirmed deaths to 2,292. Another 14,375 cases and 147 deaths were listed as probable. The average number of new cases per day stood at 729 over the past week and 709 during the past 14 days. The latter figure, for the past two weeks, rose Monday to its highest level since an average of 741 on Sept. 11. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

COVID-19 Hospitalizations in Alabama Continue to Decline

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 is continuing to decline, the Alabama Department of Public Health reported Sunday. There were 746 people in Alabama hospitals on Saturday for treatment of the disease, the agency said in its daily coronavirus update. That is down from 775 a week earlier, 829 two weeks ago and 1,160 on Aug. 20. The COVID-19 Dashboard showed 677 new confirmed cases of the disease on Sunday, pushing the state's total to 130,651 since the first case was reported on March 13. Another 14,311 cases were listed as probable, for a total of 144,962. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

‘Be Like Pearl’: A Woman so Admired She Inspired New Year’s Resolutions Was Felled by COVID-19

FORKLAND — If the Wizard of Oz had known Pearlean Slay, he would have called her a “good deed doer.” In the movie, that line was targeted for the Tin Man, who had come to the wizard in search of a heart. To hear her friends and loved ones tell it, Pearl Slay’s heart was as big as the Emerald City. That heart stopped beating on May 29, two months shy of Slay’s 71st birthday, after a month-long battle with the coronavirus, and she entered a lineup of grim categories covering the nearly 2,300 Alabamians who have died after testing positive for COVID-19. Read more. More of BW’s Not Forgotten: Alabama’s COVID Dead.

by Tom Gordon