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COVID-19 cases are increasing exponentially in the greater Alabama metropolitan area as a new, highly contagious variant spreads among the unvaccinated, and public places should consider reverting to requiring face masks, said Thursday the head of the health department of the region.
Jefferson County health worker Dr Mark Wilson said studies have shown that the delta variant that has taken hold in Alabama can spread between people in less than a minute, so any indoor area where people congregate may need a face mask or at least a strong recommendation that people wear them.
The seven-day moving average for new COVID-19 cases has increased eightfold from 13 to 107 per day, he said, and additional new cases and more pandemic-related deaths are inevitable , did he declare.
“What is tragic is that almost all of these deaths will have been prevented if only these people had been vaccinated,” Wilson said.
The problem is not isolated in Jefferson County: only eight of Alabama’s 67 counties are not considered to be at high risk for the disease caused by the coronavirus, and about 50 additional patients per day are admitted to hospitals state with COVID-19, which has already killed more than 11,460 people in Alabama.
With only 31% of the population fully vaccinated and almost all of the most serious new cases among those unvaccinated, Wilson said the state’s vaccination rate is “well below” what is needed to control the disease. pandemic.
Cases have increased since the July 4 vacation, which authorities say will lead to new outbreaks, Dr. Scott Harris, chief of the Alabama Department of Public Health, said in a video update posted by Alabama State Medical Association.
“Right now we’re going through some pretty tough times here in Alabama,” Harris said.
Some of the infections occur after the type of large gatherings that usually don’t happen until the state lifts health restrictions. Dr David Thrasher, who practices in Montgomery, said a doctor friend told him about a church in the Birmingham suburb of Trussville that recently hosted a big celebration for its 200th birthday, followed by a massive outbreak of disease.
“Seventy people in this congregation have tested positive,” he said. Thrasher said a friend of his recently passed away and two people who attended the funeral were infected even though they were vaccinated.
Over the past two weeks, the moving average number of new daily cases has increased by 772, a peak of 280%, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University.
There have been about 226 new cases per 100,000 people in Alabama over the past two weeks, which ranks ninth in the country.
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