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After rising steadily since the first week of October, new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Alabama have started to decline in recent days.
Alabama has seen a 9% decrease in the number of hospital patients with coronavirus over the past week. As of Monday, the state had 2,798 patients with COVID-19 in hospital, down 286 from the all-time high of 3,084 recorded on January 11.
Over the past week, Alabama has averaged 2,019 new COVID-19 cases per day, a huge drop from the 3,080 cases per day seen on January 11.
The current rate of new cases is likely lower than reality due to a slowdown in reports typically caused by a holiday weekend, but the decline started in the first days of last week.
Yellowhammer News refers to cases as those confirmed by a molecular test performed in a laboratory. When you include the results of rapid tests and other COVID-19 detection methods, the average increases.
Hospitalizations, like cases, have at times seen rapid jumps in totals right after a vacation weekend. Again, as in the cases, the declines started before the holiday weekend.
Several counties in Alabama, including Jefferson and Madison, are now considered “at low risk” for coronavirus transmission by the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH).
ADPH calculates county risk assessments every Thursday.
The virus remains widespread in the state, although the risk is lower than in recent months. Of Alabama’s 67 counties, 63 reported a new case of the coronavirus on Monday.
A metric closely watched by health officials, the percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive for the virus each day has risen from 31% to 23% over the past week.
The death toll from the virus in Alabama is now estimated at 6,121.
Of these, 5,099 have been confirmed as coronavirus deaths by the Alabama Department of Public Health, and a further 1,022 are considered “probable” COVID-19 deaths but have not yet been confirmed by the Department.
During the pandemic, it has been rare that a probable death from COVID-19 was not ultimately certified as a coronavirus death.
Deaths reported within a week typically occurred within weeks, or even months, before being recorded by the APDPH. The agency recently confirmed a large wave of coronavirus deaths, but few had occurred in the week before the report.
More positively, Alabama’s vaccine distribution program has accelerated after a slower-than-expected launch.
Alabama has now administered 148,685 doses of the vaccine on Monday afternoon.
The state had distributed only 89,763 doses by the week ending Jan. 9. Alabama hospitals received their first doses in mid-December.
The federal government has now shipped 379,875 doses of vaccine to Alabama, which means that 39.14% of the doses the state receives have gone into the arms of its citizens.
Alabama was assigned 640,150 doses of the vaccine, meaning only 59.34 percent of the state’s promised product was delivered on Monday.
Both vaccines require two doses, given three to four weeks apart, to be fully effective.
Monday, January 18, marks the first day that Alabamians aged 75 and over and non-medical first responders such as police and firefighters can receive the vaccine.
The ADPH estimates that there are approximately 350,000 state citizens aged 75 and over. An estimate of the number of people eligible for first responder service was not provided.
Residents of nursing homes and state medical workers – the initial categories intended to receive the vaccine – remain eligible to do so. APDH estimates that Alabama has more than 300,000 health workers.
Due to the limited supply, it is likely that the vast majority of Alabamians will not be able to get vaccinated for a few more months.
Health officials are urging the wearing of masks and social distancing to continue to mitigate the spread of the virus.
Henry Thornton is a writer for Yellowhammer News. You can contact him by email: [email protected] or on Twitter @ HenryThornton95.
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