UPDATED: COVID-19 has had a lasting impact on Alabama in the 38 months since the first case was reported in the state.

One in three Alabamians have had the virus, and 21,138 Alabamians have died with it, according to numbers from the Alabama Department of Public Health. Just this year, 251 people in the state have died with COVID, illustrating that, while the “emergency” is over, the virus is still out there. Globally, COVID has killed almost 7 million people so far.

The expiration of the emergency won’t mean much to the ordinary citizen. There haven’t been any COVID-based restrictions on activities in place in Alabama for almost three years, just recommendations for the young, the ill, the elderly and schools.

Some people, along with businesses and governments, will feel the pinch as COVID assistance programs end. Public health officials won’t be reporting as much information about the COVID situation in the state and country but assure they still will be looking at that data in case the spread of the virus gets out of hand again.

“Although the COVID-19 pandemic is entering a new phase, the disease is still causing suffering and death in Alabama,” state Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said last week. “ADPH is committed to monitoring the effects of this virus in Alabama and will continue to provide data that is accurate and actionable.”

Likewise, the World Health Organization acknowledges the ongoing nature of COVID but said in a release that it was “time to transition to long-term management of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The director general of WHO said in a press release that “COVID-19 is now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern.”

COVID already has taken a heavy toll in terms of sickness and death.

Jefferson County

Deaths: 2,536 total since the pandemic began. (32 this year so far; 452 in 2022; 1,151 in 2021; and 901 in 2020.

Confirmed Cases: 240,736 confirmed cases. (11,016 this year so far; 98,227 in 2022; 75,086 in 2021; 56,407 in 2020.)

‘Alabama

Deaths: 21,138 total since the pandemic began. (251 so far this year; 4,132 in 2022; 9,565 in 2021; and 7,190 in 2020.) For comparison, flu killed 1,034 people in Alabama last year.

Confirmed Cases: 1,659,936 confirmed cases. (70,464 so far this year; 663,007 in 2022; 538,701 in 2021.)

Vaccinations: 6,763,523 given to 2,965,020 people.

 United States

Deaths: 1,127,152.

Confirmed Cases: 103,436,829.

 

Global

Deaths: 6,932,591

Confirmed Cases: 766,440,796

This story has been changed to correct the number of deaths in Alabama.