coronavirus

Federal COVID-19 Rent and Utilities Assistance Set for Birmingham Residents

The City of Birmingham has received nearly $6.3 million in federal funding to assist residents who are unable to pay rent and utilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding comes as part of a $25 billion program from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which began allocating money to states, territories, local governments and Indian tribes last month. Funding for the Emergency Rental Assistance program was approved by the City Council during Tuesday’s regularly scheduled meeting. It was initially announced last month by Mayor Randall Woodfin, who said his administration had made the funding a “priority.” Read more.

by Sam Prickett

Bruno Event Team Takes Over JCDH Vaccine Call Center

A company that made its name by running golf tournaments, football games and car races is now taking over a call center that handles inquiries about COVID-19 vaccines. The Bruno Event Team has been operating the Jefferson County Department of Health’s call center since Friday. Read more.

by Robert Carter

Alabama’s COVID-19 Case Numbers Tumble to Lowest Levels Since October

The spread of COVID-19 in Alabama has fallen this week to its lowest level since October. The Alabama Department of Public Health reported 674 new cases of the disease in Monday's daily update and 883 in the report on Tuesday. Those were the lowest single-day case numbers since a count of 557 cases on Oct. 18.  The state has averaged 1,117 new cases a day over the past week. That is the lowest since an average of 1,100 on Oct. 29 and compares with all-time high average of 4,280 on Jan. 10. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Leadership Pleased With First Two Weeks of Session

MONTGOMERY — House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, says he is pleased with what has been accomplished so far in the legislative session and expects the same amount of productivity when lawmakers come back in a week. “What we’ve gotten done over these last two weeks is phenomenal," McCutcheon told reporters upon the House's adjournment Thursday. "We’ve even done better than I thought we would." Three priority bills — renewing and revamping economic development incentives, untaxing COVID-19 relief funds and providing limited liability to businesses, schools and organizations from COVID-19 related lawsuits — all passed in short order and have been signed into law by Gov. Kay Ivey. Increased safety precautions, including limiting public access to the State House, will still be in place when legislators come back, McCutcheon said, but there could be a loosening of restrictions as time moves on. Read more.

by Caroline Beck, Alabama Daily News

COVID Vaccination Locations Growing, but the Shot Still Is in Short Supply

UPDATED — Two things have happened recently to put more COVID-19 vaccinations in the Alabama pipeline: a third mass vaccination site opened at Parker High School and the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program began releasing 1 million vaccination doses to drug stores nationwide. Walmart, Walgreen's, CVS and Publix are scheduled to receive doses, but not all the stores have received the vaccine. First check with the stores or their web sites to see if they are vaccinating. The federal program began dispensing doses to 6,500 drug stores nationwide and eventually will increase that to 40,000 stores, according to its website. Read more.

by Virginia MacDonald

COVID-19 Daily Average Is Down by Two-Thirds Since Jan. 1

The weekly average number of new cases of COVID-19 per day in Alabama has fallen by about 67% since the beginning of this year, according to the state Department of Public Health's daily update on Saturday. The agency reported 1,189 new cases of the disease during the latest 24-hour period, raising the number of cases since the pandemic began last March to 479,856. The state has averaged 1,220 cases per day over the past week, down from the average of 3,718 cases a day for the week that ended Jan. 1. There have been 9,242 deaths from the coronavirus throughout the pandemic, including 62 in Saturday's update. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

Surge in Deaths Strains Local Funeral Homes, Morgue

In recent months, deaths due to COVID-19 increased dramatically, further stressing an industry already overwhelmed. Read more.

by Mary Scott Hodgin, WBHM

COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations and Tests Continue Decline in Friday Report

Alabama's COVID-19 figures for new cases, hospitalizations and percentage of positive tests continued to fall in Friday's daily update by the state Department of Public Health. The agency reported 1,097 new cases of the disease, leaving the daily average for the past week at 1,335 cases. That is down from an  average of 1,962 a week ago and 4,036 one month ago. It is the lowest seven-day aveage since an identical number of 1,335 on Nov. 7. There were 1,281 people being treated for the coronavirus in Alabama hospitals on Thursday. The state reached a peak of 3,084 inpatients on Jan. 11 and the number has dropped steadily since then. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch

New COVID Case and Hospitalization Numbers Keep Dropping in Alabama

COVID-19 numbers in Alabama continue to improve for the fourth straight week as the number of new cases per day and the number of COVID patients occupying hospital beds have each dropped by more than half in roughly a month’s time. In BirminghamWatch’s periodic analysis of the data provided by the Alabama Department of Public Health, Wednesday’s 7-day average of new cases has decreased to 1,573 per day. That’s a drop of more than 600 cases from a week ago and down 63.2% from the all-time high of 4,280.76 set exactly one month ago. The longer-term 14-day average is down 53.3% over the same period, from 4,019.43 on Jan. 10 to 1,875.79 Wednesday. Read more.

by Robert Carter

COVID-19 Average for Alabama Continues to Drop

There were 1,318 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Alabama on Tuesday, and the daily average number of cases dropped for the 10th consecutive day. The daily update by the Alabama Department of Public Health showed a total of 474,666 cases of the coronavirus since the pademic began last March. The state is now averaging 1,675 cases a day for the past week, the lowest since an average of 1,640 on Nov. 12. It was the lowest average so far in February. ADPH reported 56 deaths, for a total of 8,579 through the course of the pandemic. Read more.

by BirminghamWatch