One year ago, Alabama was in the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the state’s peak, on Jan 21, 2022, the 7-day average of new COVID cases per day was 12,918, according to the New York Times’ COVID tracker.

The year before, in February, 2021, deaths hit their high with an average of 147 Alabamians a day succumbing to the disease.

This week, as of Wednesday, Jan. 18, the 7-day average of new cases per day statewide was 963, and the daily average of deaths was 3.1 on Thursday.

Despite the steep drop, health officials have urged people to remain vigilant, keep up with their vaccinations and mask if their community is at risk of COVID or if they are at heightened risk from the virus.

Almost a third of the state’s counties are now considered as having high rates of COVID-19.  Jefferson County is rated as having medium community levels of the virus, while adjacent Walker and St. Clair counties are back in the red, meaning they are reporting high levels of the virus. Other counties with high COVID-19 levels are Autauga Barbour, Bibb, Butler, Calhoun, Chambers, Clarke, Colbert, Covington, Crenshaw, Cullman, Franklin, Jackson, Lowndes, Marengo, Morgan, Randolph and Winston, according to information from the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Dr. Wes Stubblefield with ADPH in an update earlier this week said that a new Omicron subvariant, called XBB.1.5, is estimated to account for 40% of the new COVID-19 cases in Alabama. He said the subvariant spreads quickly, and hospitalizations have tripled since the holiday season.

All of the counties in the state except for Choctaw are rated as high community transmission levels, which is a measure that guides hospitals in prevention and control measures.

The CDC recommends that everyone in areas with high community levels of COVID wear masks when indoors in public places. In areas with medium levels of the virus, CDC recommends people who are at greater risk of having severe complications from the virus wear masks indoors. It still recommends people get vaccinated and boosted, no matter what the current state of the virus in their area.

Look here to find a vaccine.

 

 

County of Residence		Total Cases			Total Deaths			7-Day % Change in Cases		7-Day % Positivity in Tests	7-Day Case Rate
Autauga	19389		230	-44.6		14.8	99.7
Baldwin	68764		722	-40.5		16.8	85.9
Barbour	7258		103	-31.9		5.9	191.1
Bibb	7889		109	-36.8		12.7	108.4
Blount	18130		261	-29.5		20.6	107.1
Bullock	2956		54	88.9		1.5	170.4
Butler	6347		130	-48.8		22.7	107.7
Calhoun	40377		672	-41		21.7	110.2
Chambers	10599		170	-53.7		1.6	115.6
Cherokee	6628		89	-32.6		28.6	110.3
Chilton	12792		216	-47.3		15.5	65.3
Choctaw	2232		39	-37.5		28.6	40.3
Clarke	8415		107	-23.8		18.8	137.4
Clay	5050		92	8.7		26.4	190.7
Cleburne	4316		71	-52		34.6	80.2
Coffee	16683		243	-14.6		36.2	142.8
Colbert	20658		276	-27.6		18.9	151.6
Conecuh	3484		76	-21.4		5.9	92.8
Coosa	3698		64	-69.2		7.9	37.6
Covington	11492		257	-33.8		6.4	132.7
Crenshaw	4648		109	-10.7		54.8	182.7
Cullman	30853		395	-61.1		6.5	99.4
Dale	16085		245	-36.7		18.2	102.1
Dallas	10566		258	-16.9		4.6	149.6
DeKalb	22096		345	-27.7		14.7	83.7
Elmore	29175		361	-33.3		17.3	104.7
Escambia	12118		178	-35.3		14.7	121.3
Etowah	33673		690	-44.1		18.3	69.4
Fayette	5800		99	-61.1		8.3	43.1
Franklin	11805		151	-51		19	79.3
Geneva	7730		171	-24.1		20.6	83.3
Greene	2240		53	37.5		2.2	137.7
Hale	5615		110	-21.1		16.4	102.2
Henry	5697		79	-48.6		25	104.5
Houston	31768		529	-26.5		29.3	114.5
Jackson	17981		254	-18.7		19.9	143.5
Jefferson	230578		2495	-27.8		11	119.6
Lamar	4635		73	-57.1		10	43.6
Lauderdale	29801		418	-32.8		19.2	129.6
Lawrence	9243		181	-19.4		17.6	76.1
Lee	46420		366	-35.3		16.7	86.9
Limestone	31327		314	-22.1		15.6	113.5
Lowndes	3251		80	-55		5.4	93.4
Macon	5094		90	-35.3		8.2	184.4
Madison	113510		1053	-46.6		14.6	78.5
Marengo	5992		115	-87.5		6.7	32
Marion	9904		157	13.3		17.5	114.5
Marshall	32306		408	-34.1		18.6	91.8
Mobile	132815		1768	-37.6		13.4	80.4
Monroe	6524		87	44.4		12.3	190.6
Montgomery	71485		1003	-36.9		7.9	138
Morgan	45443		549	-36.7		17.8	121
Perry	2612		49	20		12	138.1
Pickens	6210		121	-46.2		21.4	70.7
Pike	9082		141	-43.5		17.7	78.9
Randolph	6339		78	-43.8		5.1	117.8
Russell	12728		100	-38.8		17.6	84.1
Shelby	75240		479	-31.5		16.8	107
St. Clair	32162		439	-47.6		16.9	119
Sumter	3083		55	-42.9		0	130.9
Talladega	27907		394	-30.9		19.9	120
Tallapoosa	14327		251	-42		11.6	117.1
Tuscaloosa	69174		848	-30.4		16.5	106.3
Walker	23529		477	-33.9		15.1	133
Washington	4323		61	-60		3.3	62.6
Wilcox	3575		48	-54.5		13.6	49
Winston	9265		140	-30.2		9.8	255.2

 

Cases: 1602891

Deaths: 20846