Coronavirus
COVID-19’s Radical Climb in Alabama
Just four weeks ago, Alabama had not been touched by the novel coronavirus.
But on March 13, the state had its first two confirmed cases of the disease. In less than two weeks, by the time the state had its first death, the case count had topped 500.
By April 1, cases topped 1,000 and 26 people had died. Within three days, more than 1,500 cases had been confirmed and two days after that, cases topped 2,000.
On Thursday, three days later, cases are up to 2,703; 70 people have died; and 333 people have been hospitalized since that first case was confirmed, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health’s COVID-10 data and surveillance dashboard.
The situation in the state is forecast to get worse before it gets better. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now predicts the virus will hit its peak in Alabama in 11 days, on April 20. That’s a moving target, though. The institute’s predictions and predictions from other groups have at times fallen between April 16 and April 22.
What is known is that the health department has confirmed COVID-19 cases in 66 of the state’s 67 counties.
Jefferson County, as the state’s largest county and health care hub, has the most cases, rising to 507 cases Thursday. Fourteen deaths have been reported in the county, six of those confirmed with follow-up tests by the health department.
Chambers County has the second-most deaths in the state with eight. It has had 151 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Other counties with more than 100 confirmed cases of the disease are Lee, 199; Madison, 173; Mobile, 309; and Shelby, 170.
Here is the full list of counties, with number of confirmed cases, reported deaths and confirmed deaths:
